Kharlan Mercenary Team
by Thunder Explosion
Summary: The sucess of the Chosen's journey is of the most importance to Cruxis. So when the leader of Cruxis is extremely paranoid about ensuring the journey's sucess, he and his two trusty Seraphim go to guide the Chosen. Rated T because the game is rated T.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Paranoid

A/N: Mithos is lazy

Mithos: "Excuse me

Why didn't you get off your lazy butt and go guide Colette on her journey?

"I didn't want to"

Oh. Well, now I'm making you. DISCLAIM ME

"Ugh, fine. Thunder Explosion does not and never will own Tales of Symphonia."

* * *

"What have you called me here for, Lord Yggdrasil?" Kratos asked as he walked into the throne room of Vinheim, bowing to one knee.

"Ah Kratos. Good to see you." Yggdrasil said in a quite cheerful tone, at least cheerful for him. "You know that the Chosen of Sylvarant is set to receive the Oracle in a week, right?"

"Yes. Go on." Kratos said.

"Well, you also know that this one has the closest mana signature to Martel yet, correct?" Yggdrasil asked. Anyone could tell that he was going somewhere with this. That also meant something bad would probably happen.

"Yes." Kratos said, with his patience wearing thin.

"This regeneration must suceed, therefore, I am sending you along with her to ensure the regeneration suceeds." Yggdrasil said in a gleeful tone.

"As you wish, Lord Yggdrasil." Kratos said. He then stood and warped out of the throne room.

"Ah, dearest sister. After 4000 years of waiting, your vessel will finally be complete." Yggdrasil said quietly to himself. He then stood and paced around the throne room. 'I wonder what kind of girl the Chosen will be' he thought to himself. 'I hope she isn't to the point where she's even beyond Kratos's protection. Maybe I should send someone else to accompany her as well. Even an upper ranked Desian would work well. But if they run across more Desians who recognize them, the Desian's cover is blown, and that will blow Kratos's cover. Well, I still have a week to figure this out.'

* * *

Three days later, Yuan decided to pay a visit to the throne room. All the angels moved out of Yuan's way. He was clearly pissed about something. Yggdrasil found this out as well when Yuan barged right into the room. "Why the hell are you sending Kratos along with the Chosen to regenerate the world?" Yuan all but screamed.

Yggdrasil's reaction was as expected. "To ensure the sucess of the regeneration. If it weren't for those damn Renegades, we wouldn't have had to resort to this. Why are you so mad?"

Shit. Think Yuan, think. "I was wondering why you would send Kratos to do this, after he ran off with that human. I was thinking he might do that again, you know."

"Hmph. You may be right. But I don't think he would, do you?"

"Well, I am just stating you may want to be careful in case he decides to run off again." Yuan states.

"Oh. Well, I will see what happens." Yggdrasil replied.

"Well, I just think that Kratos can be trusted to go back to the surface." Yuan said with a hint of amusement.

"Do you want to accompany the Chosen?" Yggdrasil asked abruptly. Yuan hadn't expected his plan to work so easily.

"I would be honored to, Lord Yggdrasil." Yuan said, a smirk growing on his face.

"Well, it's nice to see you're a team player. You and Kratos shall leave for the surface tomorrow." Yggdrasil stated as he watched the smirk dissapear off of Yuan's face.

"Don't you think I should go alone? Sending both me and Kratos would only encourage him to run off again." Yuan shouted.

"Why do you want to go so bad?" Yggdrasil asked in a cold, interrogating voice.

"I want Martel's revival to go as smoothly as possible." Yuan said very quickly.

"So do I." Yggdrasil said with a distant look growing in his eyes. "How about this? You and Kratos can go, and I will go as well. I can keep an eye on Kratos this way and you can help ensure Martel's revival." Yggdrasil said. He then chuckled at Yuan's reaction. It was a look of shock, anger, and slight reminiscence appearing on his face.

"Yes sir. May I take my leave now?" Yuan asked.

"Yes. You are dismissed."

* * *

"Dammit! Goddessdammit!" Yuan shouted as he pounded his fist against the wall of his room in Welgaia. As this took place, Kratos decided to walk in.

"Yuan, what on Aselia are you doing?" Kratos asked, tilting his head to the side in mild confusion.

"I'm planting a tomato." Yuan said sarcastically, earning an appalled look from Kratos. "What the hell does it look like I am doing?"

Kratos, just recovering from hearing the word tomato, said "It looks like you are punching the wall, Yuan." This earned a stare of disbelief from Yuan.

"Yes, yes I am punching the wall, Kratos. Did you just figure that out." Yuan said with impatience.

"I knew as soon as I walked in, but-"

"Then why did you ask?" Yuan asked the auburn haired Seraphim.

"I wanted to know why?" Kratos asked, with his patience wearing thin.

"Mithos is sending BOTH of us on the Regeneration journey."

"So. It will be just like old times, at least, sort of." Kratos said remorsefully.

"Mithos is going as well." Yuan said.

"And the Chosen to act as Martel. Maybe Mithos will regain his old self." Kratos said hopefully.

"Heh. Yeah right." Yuan scoffed. "Anyway, we are leaving tomorrow, so I want to rest, even though we don't technically need sleep."

"Very well. I will take my leave. See you tomorrow." Kratos said walking out the door.

Yuan, however, did not rest. He decided he was going to pay a visit to his dead fiancee in the Hall of the Great Seed. He unfurled his wings and flew to the elevator that would take him there. As he passed, he wondered what Martel would think about how her brother changed, about the Desians causing absolute mayhem and suffering on the surface, about the cold, lifeless angels that float around this desolate excuse for a city, about everything. He knew Martel would never want to take some innocent girl's life just to be reborn for her maniac brother's sake. He wanted Martel to rest in peace instead of living in that lifeless state tied to the Great Seed, unable to do anything. He would have to find a way to stop this cycle and save the world, even if it meant having to finally end the dream of reviving his dead fiancee.

After a while he finally made it to the Hall. He stood there in front of Martel's soul, wondering if she would speak at some time. "I hope you can hear me." he started. "Mithos wants us all to go on the Regeneration journey this time. This vessel is an almost perfect match. I wonder if I should let Regeneration happen this time. I mean, she is going to die anyway so I shouldn't let her sacrifice be in vain. Or maybe scare her out of the journey somehow." Yuan said to Martel. "I'm not sure what I will do yet, but I want you to be happy, and I know your not happy like this." Yuan said, then turned to walk out of the Hall.

* * *

"Are we ready?" Kratos asked Mithos, who was now in his child form.

"We will be once that slacker Yuan gets here." Mithos growled.

"I see you are carrying a sword. I haven't seen you use one of those in a long time, Mithos." Kratos said with a far off look in his eyes.

"Well, since we are going under the guise of a mercenary team, it would help keep our cover. I could pretend to be your student or something like that, since I look so much younger than you." Mithos said.

"I see." was all Kratos said after that.

Yuan was late for two reasons. One, he was giving the Renegades a secret order to kill the Chosen at the Martel Temple. The other reason? He overslept. He gave himself the ability to sleep again, and since he hasn't slept in nearly a thousand years, it backfired on him. One of Cruxis' Four Seraphim overslept before one of their most important jobs in history. Mithos would have his head.

"Where have you been, Yuan?" Kratos asked his fellow Seraph.

"I uh, I kind of, uhm, overslept." he said shrugging his shoulders, his voice rising when he said overslept.

Mithos sighed. "This will be a long trip."

And with that, the trio descended to the surface.

* * *

"OW!"

The shout came from Yuan, who could be seen laying on the ground, Mithos standing over top of him. "Dude, did you have to fall on me?" Yuan asked while he was laying on the ground holding his side.

"Well, I guess that's what you get when you oversleep. Now come on, we have to get to the temple." Mithos said to him in a voice that indicated he was amused, which he obviously was.

"I think you broke a rib, Mithos." Yuan whined.

Kratos sighed. "First aid." A green light restored Yuan's ribs to full health. He then proceeded to pull him up. "Now come on."

"Fine." Yuan said.

It would be a short walk to the temple from where the trio landed at. The trip went in relative silence with Kratos leading the way. However, with their angel senses, they were able to hear a conflict break out at the temple. Kratos and Mithos sprinted for the temple. Yuan, who assumed it was the Renegades, decided to just take a leisurely jog up to the temple. He could hear the voice of Botta issuing out orders and blades clashing. He assumed the Chosen must have brought defense from the village.

Once they got there, a huge guy who wielded a medieval flail and some sort of big hammer was about to finish the Chosen's group off. Kratos bolted, sword out, to stop the attack that would kill the group.

"Who are you?" the kid in red asked.

"Get out of the way." Kratos commanded.

He and Mithos proceeded to finish the big guy as Yuan just walked up the stairs. Mithos and Kratos both turned to the Chosen's group. Kratos saw a kid dressed in a red coat, black pants, red boots, and suspenders. That was the kid he told to get out of the way. He noticed that he had chocolate brown hair and a slim build. He was also a couple of inches shorter than Kratos. The kid's eyes also had a garnet tint to them, which is something that Kratos took notice of, as well as the fact that he fought with two swords.

He saw the mage of the group as well. He was a short kid, not even five foot, with long silver hair and blue eyes. He looked like an elf or half-elf, but he wasn't sure which yet. He was dressed in a blue short sleeve button up shirt and blue shorts. His weapon of choice was a kendama, which was very strange.

The blond girl was the one who he figured was the Chosen. She had long blond hair and blue eyes. She seemed to be a small girl, but she was dressed in the church garmets, which probably made her look a lot smaller than she was.

Then, Mithos decided to pipe up. "You helped a lot, didn't you?" he asked Yuan.

"I was preparing to cast a spell, but you had already taken him down so I just stepped out of the way." he said casually.

"I never thought you guys would show up. Dammit, retreat for now." Botta said as they jumped off the side of the hill and slid down, making their escape.

Then the old woman at the front of the chapel spoke up. "How can I ever repay you three for saving the Chosen."

"Don't count Yuan. He didn't do anything." Mithos sniggered.

"So this girl is the next Chosen, I take it?" Kratos said as he pointed at Colette, completely ignoring the two bickering half-elves.

"Yes, that's me. I'm Colette. What's your name?" she chirped.

"I am Kratos, a traveling mercenary. These are my two companions, Mithos and Yuan." he said pointing at the two, while Yuan had Mithos in a sleeper hold. "Knock it off" Kratos said, glaring daggers at the two, who immediately stopped.

"I see." the old woman said. The other two children with Colette were just staring at Yuan and Mithos, barely refraining from laughing. Colette just looked at Kratos. "I am Phaidra, Colette's grandmother."

The kid in red abruptly interrupted everyone, bringing them back to the task at hand. "Are you going to undergo the trial now Colette."

"Oh, yeah." Colette said.

"What exactly is the trial, anyway?" the silver haired kid piped up.

"I would assume it is the monsters." Kratos said calmly. "An evil presence radiates from this chapel."

"Why would a church be evil, though?" red kid asked.

"It's part of the trial, Lloyd" Colette said. As she said this, Kratos got an alarmed look on his face.

"Your name is Lloyd?" Kratos asked.

"Yeah, but who are you to ask for my name." Lloyd bitterly retaliated.

"His name is Kratos, Lloyd. He already said that." the mage piped up.

"Shut it, Genis." Lloyd said.

"Shouldn't the Chosen be taking the trial now?" Mithos asked.

Phaidra spoke up again. "If it's not to much to ask of you, would you three accompany her for the trial?" she asked. "I can pay you guys."

"Ok, we accept the task." Yuan said.

"Oh, Grandma, can Lloyd come to? I feel so much safer with him around." Colette asked.

"No." The response came from Kratos. "It's dangerous and children need to stay home."

"Well then, I'll just follow you on my own." Lloyd said. Kratos was reminded of Anna for a second.

"Look kid, nothing against you, but it is really dangerous and you're not the most skilled swordsman I've seen." Yuan said.

"Oh, please let Lloyd come. I'm sure he can at least protect himself." Colette whined.

"Fine. If the Chosen desires it, Lloyd may come along." Kratos said in defeat.

"Alright." Lloyd said. "Come on Genis."

"M-Me?" he stamerred.

"Of course, come on." Lloyd said with excitement.

"This isn't a field trip, you know." Kratos said as he walked into the temple, Colette, Yuan, and Mithos following closely behind.

And thus the journey begins.

* * *

Reviews keep me inspired and reviewers are awesome. Please be awesome.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you silverstaraptor and the purple rose for your reviews. Hope you and all other readers enjoy Chapter 2.

Mithos: Thunder Explosion doesn't own Tales of Symphonia

* * *

The group of six walked through the dimly lit temple. Kratos led the way with Colette following close behind, Lloyd and Genis bickering back and forth about how stupid Lloyd can be, with Mithos listening intently, and Yuan was guarding the rear. Kratos stopped abruptly and asked Lloyd a question. "Lloyd, are your sword techniques self-taught?"

Lloyd, however, was completely oblivious due to his current argument with Genis. "I'm telling you, two swords are more powerful than one."

"Lloyd, your an idiot. It all depends on how you use them and what kind of techs you can perform. Also how well." Genis said.

"But if the power of a tech with one sword is 100, wouldn't the power of it with two swords be 200?"

"Not exactly Lloyd." Mithos said.

"Lloyd, Mr. Kratos has a question for you." Colette interrupted.

"Oh. What is it?" Lloyd asked.

Kratos sighed, figuring out the answer before he even asked the question. "Are your sword techniques self-taught?"

"Yes they are." Lloyd said in a very proud tone.

Kratos handed him a book. "Here. Take this. It will help you learn the basics, at least."

Lloyd did an anime fall, which caused Mithos, Genis, and Yuan to bust out laughing. Colette just stood there, kind of clueless. Finally, Genis spoke up. "Not so tough now, are you? Or smart, for that matter." SMACK!

"Shut it Genis."

The journey through the temple was quiet for a little while. Colette just followed Kratos while Lloyd pouted. Genis was split between hiding snickers at Lloyd and staring at Mithos, like he was trying to figure something out. Mithos looked back for a bit, but then just dismissed it as Genis being a creep. Yuan knew exactly what was on Genis's mind, but didn't say a thing about it because he figured Lloyd and Colette didn't know.

All of a sudden, their journey was halted by a big door with a seal on it. Everyone stopped to examine it. "What do we do Mr. Kratos?" Colette asked him.

"Hmm. I'm not sure." the mercenary replied, although he knew exactly what to do.

Yuan decided to walk up to the door and feign investigation. "Hmm. I suppose an object that can manipulate mana may be able to break this lock. Something like a sword that has special powers, or a legendary Sorcerrer's Ring."

This is when a certain ditzy blond decided to pipe up. "I think Grandma said something about a Sorcerer's Ring being kept somewhere in this temple. I'm not sure where it is exactly, though."

"Well that's conveinent." Mithos whined.

"No kidding. I'm tired of all this walking." Lloyd whined in agreement.

"Well, if the children are that tired, they could just leave I suppose." Kratos said.

"Yup. I don't think children should be allowed to slow the Chosen down." Yuan nodded.

"Hey, I'm not that tired. I just had a long day." Lloyd protested.

"Lloyd, you woke up an hour ago after sleeping through one of Raine's lectures." Genis mocked.

"Yeah, but I was sleeping standing up holding two buckets of water. That's not the greatest sleeping conditions if you ask me." Lloyd argued the point. This caused Yuan and Kratos to both exchange really confused looks.

Then it was Mithos's turn to argue. "I'm your student, Kratos" he had practically spit student out "you can't leave me here."

"Then you can't slow the Chosen down." Yuan stated.

Mithos gave them a look that said 'if I didn't have to keep a cover I would smite you right now.' This just caused Yuan to smirk at the little half-elf. The silence then took over and the group ventured further into the temple. After walking down a flight of stairs, they came across a huge glass floor that had many holes in the surface.

"Hey, isn't that the Sorcerer's ring over there?" Lloyd asked his fellow companions.

"Yup. That defidently looks like a Sorcerer's Ring." Yuan said. "Hey Colette, is this- COLETTE!"

"I'm gonna call you Pebble." Colette said to a big rock. The rock, however, was moving closer and closer to Colette, its rock arms preparing to strike the blonde Chosen. "Come here Pebble, come here." Colette cooed. Kratos and Yuan unsheathed their weapons while Genis and Mithos began casting. Lloyd followed up behind Kratos and Yuan.

"Colette, move!" Kratos yelled. Lloyd grabbed Colette and moved her to safety while Kratos and Yuan slashed away at the big rock monster. Lloyd unleashed a Demon Fang from a distance, and Kratos finished it off with a Sonic Thrust. The rock then transformed into a big block. Then Colette had her reaction to the scuffle with the monster.

"What did you do to Pebble." Colette weeped. "You didn't hurt him, did you?" she sobbed. When she received no reaction, she ran for the block in a fit of tears. Then she tripped over air, and she smacked into the block that was once a huge Golem. The block slid back and fell down one of the many holes in the glass floor. This caused a new path to be formed in the solid ground below. This event made a lightbulb go off above Kratos's and Yuan's heads.

"I get it now." the two said simutaneously.

"Huh? Get what?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah. Get what?" Mithos asked genuinely, as he didn't really understand what was going on either.

"I think the monsters are supposed to transform into blocks, then form a path in the gaps below." Genis explained.

"Which means, another one should be appearing soon." Kratos said.

"Right on cue." Yuan said as another Golem appeared.

"Oh!" Colette exclaimed. "This one's name is tiny." she said gleefully.

Kratos let loose a long sigh. "Colette, you must not become acquainted with every single monster we meet." he said in a deadpan voice.

"But its so cute." Colette said. Yuan just killed it in one swipe of his huge double-edged sword. He then proceeded to solve the puzzle for the others.

"Let's go." he said casually, almost like he was bored.

They stepped down the stairs and into the lower part of the chaimber. Then the group stepped cautiously over the blocks that they had recently dropped down through the holes in the floor that was now above them. Colette led the way to the stairs that led up to the Sorcerer's Ring shrine..

"Aww, cool!" Lloyd yelled, rushing up the stairs past the rest of the group. "I can't wait to try this thing out. HYAAH!" Nothing happened. "YAH!" Still nothing. "HUH! Huh?" Nothing was happening when Lloyd tried to use the ring.

"You probably need a basic understanding of mana to use the ring, Lloyd." Genis said in the same tone you would say DUH in. "Give it to me." he commanded.

"You're no fun." Lloyd whined.

"Just give me the ring." Lloyd reluctantly handed over the ring. "Ok. HYAH!" Genis shouted as a fireball came shooting out of the ring- and hit Yuan right in the stomach.

"Ow twerp." the blue haired half-elf said as he clutched his gut that was- a moment ago- actually on fire. "Give me the ring, now!" Yuan commanded the silver-haired half-elf, who gave him the ring at once. "Now let's proceed."

"Do you actually know how to use that?" Mithos asked incrediously.

"Of course I do. Watch." Yuan said as he shot the little femboy with a fireball.

"OW!" Mithos screamed as he batted at the fire that was going to engulf him.

"Why did you take it from me if you shoot people with it too?" Genis asked.

"Because I am more responsible with it. I knew what I was doing when I shot him." Yuan said in his bored tone.

"I wanna shoot at something with it." Lloyd begged.

"You don't even know how the ring works." Yuan said. "I am holding the ring, and that's final."

"Then we should head for the seal, since you guys have been arguing over that stupid ring for the past ten minutes." Kratos said in a cool voice, although the fact that the group was testing his patience was obvious. "We should not keep the Chosen waiting any longer."

"Oh yes. I have to go receive the oracle. I almost forgot." Colette said in a really high voice. Kratos sighed.

"Then let's go." Kratos huffed.

* * *

The group had to fight a few battles before they got to the seal so they could have Colette receive the oracle. However, the battles didn't go quite as planned. Such 'as planned' was ruined when the group encountered three very large spiders.

"AAAAAHHHH! SPIDERS!" Lloyd yelled as the group entered the battle. He hid behind Genis the whole time while he casted spells. When the fight was over, Kratos walked over to the frightened teenager.

"Is he always like this?" Kratos asked Genis.

"Just around spiders and tomatoes." Genis replied.

Kratos's face changed to a look of absolute horror. "What about tomatoes?" the Seraph asked the half-elf.

"He just has this crazy idea in his head that spiders and tomatoes are plotting together to take over and rule the world." Genis said mocking his best friend's ideas.

"It's true." Lloyd sobbed.

All of a sudden, the auburn haired mercenary picked Lloyd up by his collar and hoisted him up into the air. "Tell me everything you know about the tomatoes's takeover." Kratos demanded. His face betrayed his emotions as it showed a mix of extreme frustration, absolute panic and terror, and anger appeared to be coursing through the man's veins.

"I-I don't know anything about it. It ju-just seems tha-that tomatoes and spiders are both really evil, so I thought they would work together." Lloyd stammered.

"Hmm. That is an interesting theory. I have been trying to track those damn vegetables- I mean fruits- no vegetables- whatever they are down for ages because they're evil. This may be why they have been slipping through my fingers for the last four thou- (COUGH) four years. They've been working with those damn insects for all this time." Kratos reasoned.

"Oh brother. He has Kratos believing his crap." Genis sighed. "Kratos, spiders are arachnoids, not insects."

"Ah, that must be why they're the only bugs working with the tomatoes." Lloyd somehow reasoned.

"Is Lloyd's idiocy contagious, because I have, not once in my life, seen Kratos act like this?" Mithos asked Genis.

"No, it shouldn't be." Genis said.

"Ok, everyone, huddle up. I have a plan." Yuan said.

"How do we go about it?" Kratos asked.

"Huh?" Yuan replied.

"How do we go about rounding up the tomatoes so we can kill them." Lloyd asked.

"Alright, I have an idea." Yuan grinned evily. Lloyd and Kratos scooted closer to him, waiting for his reply. All of a sudden, Yuan smacked both of them upside the head. "You two are idiots. We came in here to assist the Chosen, not to kill some spiders because they're helping some stupid plant." Yuan took a breath as Kratos and Lloyd started walking. Then, Yuan said "Geez, the crap you two come up with, I'd think you two were brothers." Yuan smirked.

* * *

The group now approached the sealed doors. Yuan walked up triumphantly to the door and pointed the Sorcerer's ring at the door ready to shoot. He decided to bask in the moment a bit too long before one of Mithos's jeers brought him back to the real world. "Come on idiot, open the door."

"Fine, fine." Yuan then shot the fire at the door, causing the seal to go away and the doors to open up, revealing a warp pad to the groups eyes.

"This is how we get to the Oracle." Colette cheered. "Come on." Colette and Mithos ran in, followed by Genis and Lloyd.

"Do you think he is finding his inner child, you know, his old self, again?" Yuan asked to Kratos.

"I can only hope so, but even if he does, I think it will be short lived." Kratos said.

"True." Yuan said.

With that, they stepped onto the warp pad and transported to the seal room. When Colette approached the seal, a bright light flashed and was gone as soon as it came. When the light subsided, an angel floated above them all. "I am Remiel, an angel of judgment. I am here to guide Colette, daughter of the mana lineage, on her journey to heaven as the Seventh Chosen. Now Colette, come here."

"Yes, my lord."

"This is the jewel of mana, the Cruxis Crystal. With this, Cruxis will grant you the power of the angels as you release the seals that are spread across this ravaged world. Mana shall be slowly restored with each seal that you release."

"I humbily accept this task." As Colette said these words, the Cruxis Crystal rose and attached itself to her neck. It then formed a gold mount around itself and attached to her skin.

"Good." Remiel said with an undescribable tone of dark glee. "We of Cruxis bless this event, and hereby bestow the Tower of Salvation upon this land. First, head to the Seal of Fire, and offer your prayers at the altar in the distant lands." He then started to rise to the heavens again before Colette stopped him.

"Wait Remiel. Please wait." Colette pleaded. "Are you really my fa-"

"First, head to the Seal of Fire. Understood, my beloved daughter, Colette."

"Father. So you really are my true father!" Colette exclaimed.

"We will meet again at the next seal, my daughter." And with that, the angel dissapeared in a flash of feathers.

"So I guess the rumor was true." Genis whispered to himself.

"I can't believe Remiel is my true father." Colette said.

"Well, it doesn't really matter who your real father is. You're still you, no matter what." Lloyd said to his friend.

"Hehe. Thanks, Lloyd." Colette cheered.

"Well Chosen, if your task here is done, we should be headed back to the village." Kratos said.

"Oh, right." Colette looked downcast as she complied. With this reply, she walked out of the room with Kratos and Yuan. Mithos, however, was just staring out the window looking at the Tower of Salvation.

"World...Regeneration." Mithos said quietly.

"Mithos, we should go." Genis said, shocking Mithos slightly.

"Oh, yes. You're probably right." he said as he, Genis, and Lloyd walked out as well.

Entering the lobby brought a horrible sight to both Genis and Lloyd, Genis's sister, Raine, was standing in the lobby with a crazed look in her eyes and her voice had a tone Lloyd had never heard before. "Uh, Raine." Genis said cowardishly, slightly backing away.

"Genis. And Lloyd too. Oh, I see you have made a new friend." she said.

"Oh yeah. His name is Mithos." Lloyd said.

"You guys consider me a friend?" Mithos said to himself quietly.

"Well." Raine started "How could you make a new friend if you were supposed to be at the schoolhouse studying?" she asked in a now very angry tone.

"Oh shit." Lloyd said. Raine then took her brother over her knee and spanked him about five times.

"You're next, Lloyd." Raine's voice startled Lloyd out of his thoughts. Then, a swift kick was sent from the teacher to the kid dressed in the red, causing him to be sent across the room and into the wall, actually bouncing off of it a couple of times. She then walked over to Mithos, who backed away slightly in fear of the crazy teacher. "You're Mithos, correct?" she asked the blond boy, who nodded very quickly. Raine then slapped him over the head, hard. "Thank you for watching over my brother and his friend."

"That's how you thank someone? Jeez." Mithos griped.

"Are you coming back to the village with us, sis?" Genis asked.

"Not yet. Phaidra gave me permission to study this temple a little longer. It's not everyday that ordinary citizens get the opportunity to study the Martel Temple."

"Okay. We're going back to the village now." Lloyd said. As they were leaving, they heard an evil, maniacal laugh.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"What was that?" Mithos asked.

"You don't want to know." Genis said.

* * *

Reviews keep me inspired so please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The Ranch

A/N: Thank you for your reviews everyone. I realized I forgot to give a name to last chapter, so I'm an idiot for that.

Mithos: Thunder Explosion doesn't own ToS, because he's an idiot.

Hey you little- Please enjoy the story. (hits Mithos with a golf club)

* * *

"Man, Kratos and Yuan just left for the village without us." Mithos complained, still rubbing his head.

"Yeah, I know. Raine had to kick me in the gut as hard as she could too." Lloyd griped.

"Well, let's just get back to the village before we run into too many monsters." Genis suggested. "We are running low on supplies, after all."

"Yeah, you're right. Man am I ever gonna make Yuan feel PAIN when I see him." Mithos yelled.

So the trio, being left behind at the temple, decided to just head for the village. There were a couple monsters along the path (DEATH TO THE KILLER BUNNIES) but they were rather unscathed when they got to the village. The village had a more peaceful air around it then when they left. Mithos wanted to go look for Kratos right away, but Genis had something to do first.

"I think I left something at the schoolhouse. You guys should come with me so you don't get lost." Genis said.

"Alright, I suppose we have some time to kill." Mithos reluctantly agreed.

So with that, the group has taken off to the schoolhouse. One villager stopped Lloyd and asked him how the oracle went. Then the group continued their little escapade to the school.

"This is where we go to school, Mithos." Lloyd told the blond half-elf when they approached.

"It is quite fair-sized." Mithos said.

"Where do you go to school at, Mithos?" Genis asked.

"Oh, I used to go to a school in a liittle village on the Eastern Continent. The village was burnt down a couple of years ago." Mithos said. He wasn't totally lying, it was just on a different world's Eastern Continent. "Then, Kratos rescued me and-" Mithos choked "my sister."

"Where is your sister now if you're travelling?" Lloyd asked ignorantly.

"She died." Mithos said quietly.

"Oh. I'm sorry Mithos." Lloyd said. "I know how it feels to lose family. I don't know either of my real parents, except I know my mom is dead, but I'm not sure about my father." Lloyd said.

"I was raised by my sister so I might know how you feel as well." Genis said.

"Thanks guys." Mithos said, slightly smiling. However, he couldn't help but think about Lloyd's situation. 'I wonder if-' he cut his thoughts right there because the possibility was way too absurd. So he just shut his mouth and walked in the schoolhouse, since he already told them too much.

"It might be in my desk- RAINE?" Genis asked and shouted at the same time.

"Oh, boys. I see that you have made it back to town safely." she said.

"How the hell did you beat us back?" Mithos asked.

"I would appreciate you didn't use such crude and vulgar language, especially around other children." Raine said. "But to answer your question, I found a warp pad in one of the rooms that lead back to the storeroom in the school." she explained.

"Oh, that makes total sense." Lloyd thought.

"Well anyway, I just came to get my 'Amateur Mana Master' book. But aren't you leaving with Colette tomorrow?" Genis asked his sister.

"Yes, that is right." Raine said.

"But then, who is going to take care of me?" Genis said. Mithos was reminded of his younger self witnessing this scene.

"I will leave you in the care of Phaidra." Raine said.

"Who is going to teach all the classes at the school though while you're gone?" Lloyd asked.

"I will leave the school in the care of Frank." she said. "Lloyd."

"Yes?" said boy snapped his attention to his teacher.

"Watch over Genis for me." Raine said. "I have to get some things packed for the journey, but we will all travel out to your house later."

"Ok." Lloyd said before the trio departed the schoolhouse to go to Colette's house, hoping Mithos's 'friends' would be there. So they went over to the Brunel household and practically busted the door down in order to get in.

"The protection of the Chosen will be entrusted to Kratos, Yuan, and Raine." was what the children heard the Mayor say.

"Oh, hi." Colette said to the three people standing in the doorway.

"Thank you three for your assistance at the temple earlier. Here, have this Collector's Book." Phaidra said to the boys as she handed the book to Genis.

"Thanks." Genis said.

"Hey, were you guys talking about the Journey of Regeneration just now?" Lloyd asked. Yuan nodded. "Wow, I wanna go to. Can I?"

"If Raine is going, then so am I." Genis said.

"No. You'll only get in the way." Kratos argued.

"But Mithos is going." Lloyd argued.

"No he's not." Yuan said.

"WHAT?" Mithos blurted out.

"Children are not to accompany the Chosen on her journey. I don't care if you are their pupil or not." the mayor said.

"We did fine against the monsters in the temple." Lloyd argued.

"The monsters in the temple were nothing compared to the monsters we will face." Kratos said.

"But I have to go." Mithos said. "Where the hell else will I go?"

"Not my problem." the mayor countered. "But I will not deal with anymore insolent children. Get out!"

"Kratos, you don't have a problem with me going, do you?" Mithos growled.

"No but it is not my desicion." he said.

"Let's just go, Mithos." Genis said.

* * *

Mithos practically knocked the house down when he left. Lloyd and Genis followed shortly behind him. Once they were outside, the group resumed their conversation. "Who the hell does that fat ass mayor think he is keeping me from doing my job as a mercenary?"

"Kratos pisses me off as well. He criticizes our skills just because he is so much better than us, even though we can defend ourselves perfectly fine. He didn't even try to stand up for you either." Lloyd yelled.

"And they're keeping me from my sister as well. They just can't do that to me." Genis was almost on the verge of tears.

"Well, whatever. Mithos." Lloyd said.

"Yes?"

"If you don't have anywhere else to stay and we can't go on the journey with you friends, you can stay with me and Dirk." Lloyd said.

Mithos looked shocked. "Really? But you barely know me."

"Well, we have been battling together so that helps build a bond. You're a nice person as well, so I don't have a problem with it." Lloyd said.

"You're really nice, Lloyd." Mithos said.

"Well, there's also Dwarven Vow #2, 'Never Abandon Someone In Need.'" Lloyd struck his proud pose.

"Hey Lloyd?" Genis asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can I go part of the way home with you guys? There's someone I need to tell about the oracle."

"I didn't know you had friends outside the village besides me. But you can come." Lloyd said.

"Ok. Just let me go grab some stuff from my house." he said.

So the group began to leave, but were stopped by a certain klutzy Chosen. "Please wait!" THUD! She tripped and fell on her butt.

"Yeah Colette?" Lloyd asked.

"We're leaving at noon tomorrow. You should come to the village around then." she said.

"Okay. We will at least come to see you guys off." Lloyd said.

"Thanks. We'll come by your house later." Colette said.

"Oh, thats right. Tell Kratos and Yuan I'm gonna stay at Lloyd's house while they're on the journey." Mithos said.

"Ok." She then turned and began to leave, until Genis blurted out "Happy Birthday Colette. Here are some cookies I made you. I would have made something bigger if I knew you were leaving tomorrow."

"Oh that's ok. I love your cookies." she said.

"What about that necklace you said you were gonna make her?" Genis asked Lloyd.

"Oh crap, I left it at my house. I'll give it to you when you come over."

"Oh ok." she said, then left to go inside her house.

"Well, shall we?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Mithos said.

With that the group headed to Genis's house to get sandwich ingredients. Then they went to the entrance of the village to leave. However, the guards stopped Lloyd at the entrance. "How many times have we told you to keep this thing out of the village." one guard said.

"Noishe is a dog, not a thing." Lloyd said. A look of shock spread across Mithos's face but was gone in an instant.

"Well he doesn't look like any dog I've ever seen." Then he asked the question they had originally planned to ask him. "You don't go near the Desian Human Ranch on your way to the village, do you?"

"No." was Lloyd's reply, but this time both Mithos and Genis got horrifying looks on their faces.

"Ok." the guards said.

"You live out in the forest?" Mithos asked.

"Yup, with my dad, Dirk." he said.

Noishe all of a sudden jumped, then took off running. "Looks like Noishe is as jumpy as ever." Genis said.

"Yeah, Noishe is really scared of monsters. Although you hardly see any monsters that are bigger than him." Lloyd said.

* * *

The majority of the trek through the forest went silently until Genis arrived at his stop. "Well, here's where I stop." he said.

"Stop? At the Desian Human Ranch?" Mithos asked.

"Doesn't going there violate the non-aggresion treaty?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah, I know. But there's just someone I have to tell about the oracle. Besides, the Desians already attacked the temple." Genis said.

'Stupid half-elf' Mithos thought. 'These humans have been tearing his life apart, and he turns his back on his fellow kinsman to help them out. How pathetic.' "Well, lets get this over with. I don't want to be here very long." Mithos said.

"Good idea." said Lloyd.

So the trio ran over to the fence to get Genis's friend's attention. "Hey, Marble." Genis said in a hushed voice.

The old lady walked over to the fence. "Hi Genis. Who are your friends?"

"This one is Lloyd, the idiot I have been telling you about. And this is Mithos." he pointed to Mithos. "We just met him today."

"It's a pleasure to meet you two." she said.

"Thank you" Lloyd said.

"Thanks" 'stupid human' Mithos thought bitterly.

"Hey, is that an Exsphere?" Lloyd asked.

"Oh, is that what this is called? They put this on me as soon as I got here." Marble said.

"Yeah, that is an Exsphere. But it has no Key Crest." Lloyd said.

"Why does it need a Key Crest?" Genis asked.

"An Exsphere is useless unless it is attached directly to your skin. But doing that makes you sick, so you carve a charm into a piece of processed inhibitor ore and use that as a mount for the crest." Lloyd explained.

"Why, you're very knowledgable." the old lady said.

"So Marble needs a Key Crest?" Genis asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know how we would get one. Key Crests are Dwarven technology." Lloyd said.

"Your dad's a dwarf." Genis said.

"Fine, I can ask him." Lloyd sighed in defeat.

"Hey old hag, what are you doing? Get back to work!" a Desian shouted.

"Oh no, run." Marble said.

"Ok." Lloyd said as he, Genis, and Mithos ran off. They then saw Marble being drug toward the back and then whipped repeatedly by Desians who said she had an attitude problem. "Let's get to higher ground so we can do something." Lloyd said. The group complied and jumped up random rocks so they could be able to form a plan. What they saw, however, horrified them.

"Oh Martel." Genis said. Lloyd grunted in compliment. Mithos just looked on.

"By the spirits" Mithos whispered. "I have a plan." Mithos said.

"What is it?" Lloyd said.

"Stand aside." Mithos commanded. They promptly did. "THUNDER BLADE!" A blade of lightning crashed down on the ranch, killing the three Desians that were whipping Marble instantly. "RUN!" Mithos then said.

Once they were a ways away, Genis asked "What do we do?"

"Lloyd and I will go to his house, and you go back to the village." Mithos said sternly. "We have to hurry before they catch us."

"Alright." Genis said.

"Be careful." Lloyd said to Genis, who nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

The two swordsman walked through the woods and left the forest soon enough. The two had a couple of, 'interesting', conversations along the way.

"Lloyd, do you hate half-elves?" Mithos asked.

"No, why?"

"Well you seem to hate Desians a lot, so I just wondered if you hated half-elves in general."

"Well, not all half-elves are Desians, right?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah." Mithos said. "Just look at me." he said under his breath.

Lloyd, however, heard this. "Look at you?" he asked. "Are you a half-elf?"

"No!" Mithos cried.

"You don't have to hide it, you know." Lloyd said casually. "I won't tell anyone, and my dad's a dwarf so he won't care."

"Really?" Mithos said with excitement in his voice. "Thanks."

So they continued walking for a little bit more until Mithos tripped over a rock. "OWWW!" he yelled.

"Ah. You okay?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just hate rocks." he said.

"Oh, ok."

Then, the two walked on a little bit more until Lloyd's house came into view. "Lloyd, is that your house?" Mithos asked.

"Yeah, that's it." Lloyd said.

"Aww, cool." Mithos then began running up to the house.

"Mithos wait, don't-" Lloyd yelled to Mithos, who stopped suddenly on the bridge and turned violently and quickly, causing him to lose his balance and fall in the creek. "Run." Lloyd finished.

Mithos then picked himself up out of the creek, now soaking wet. "You could have warned me." he growled.

"I tried." Lloyd stammered, holding back fits of laughter. "Let's go in. Maybe you can get new clothes."

"Alright."

* * *

Genis was runing as fast as he could. He was running to avoid getting caught by Desians. Evil people who did evil things to good people. Now he was running toward the village, when he saw four figures on the horizon. He started to duck for cover, but he then realized who was coming up the hill. The figures were none other than his sister, his friend who was the Chosen, and the two mercenaries from earlier.

"Hey Genis!" Colette yelled.

"Oh, hey guys. What are you doing out here?" the midget mage asked sheepishly.

"We could ask you the same thing." Kratos said.

"Oh, go easy on the kid." Yuan said. "But what are you doing out here?"

"Uh, visiting a friend." Genis said.

"Hmm, I didn't know of any friends of your's outside the village." Raine said. "This person wouldn't happen to be a prisioner at the ranch, would they?"

Genis gulped. "Uh, um, yes." he said meekly. Raine and Colette were shocked and Yuan exchainged a horrified glance with Kratos.

SMACK! "What the hell were you thinking?" Raine yelled at her brother. "Why were you getting involved with the Desians?"

"I felt bad for them." Genis said.

"Genis, please don't get involved with them. They will all be saved once I regenerate the world." Colette said with a sad look on her face. Yuan looked sad for a moment, too, but it was quickly gone. "I feel bad for them too, but the journey will save them all."

"Then let me come along on the journey." Genis said. "I want to help them too. I can defend myself and I can help with the camping stuff."

"Let's talk about this later at Lloyd's. You're coming, right?" Colette asked.

"Yup." Genis said.

* * *

Mithos came out of Lloyd's room wearing a pair of blue denim pants and one of Lloyd's spare jackets that he had when he was littler. He also, however, had his hair wrapped in a towel to dry it. "Thanks, Lloyd."

"No problem. Now let me introduce you to my dad. Mithos." he said as he stepped into the backyard. "This is my dad, Dirk."

"How'd ya do, lad." Dirk said.

"I'm fine, thank you." Mithos said. He then noticed Lloyd walked over to the front of a gravestone and bow in front of it on one knee.

"I'm home mom." he said. Then, "Mithos, come here. Mom, I would like you to meet Mithos." Lloyd said as Mithos walked over.

"Hi, Mrs.-"

"Irving. I don't remember mom's actual last name, but her maiden name was Irving, she had said." he explained. "You don't think I'm weird, do you?"

Mithos hesitated. "No. I still talk to my sister sometimes." That was actually a little different, but it still counts.

"Ok. I'm going to see if dad will make me Marble's Key Crest."

"Ok." Mithos replied. He then examined the headstone a little more. 'Anna' the grave read. 'It couldn't be' Mithos thought. 'This can't be Kratos's son.' He then deserted those thoughts and walked into the house.

"Whad'ya need a Key Crest for." Dirk's voice said.

"Uh, a traveler who came to the village today. One of Mithos's friends." Lloyd lied.

"Baloney. Exspheres are basically only used by Desians, so if they took an Exsphere off a Desian, it should have a Key Crest on it." Dirk said. "Dwarven Vow #11, 'Lying is the First Step Down a Path of Thievery.'"

"Ok, I met someone at the ranch today." Lloyd started.

"WHAT! You went to the Ranch?" Dirk asked in a pissed off voice.

"I'm sorry. A bunch of stuff happened-"

"You didn't let the Desians see your Exsphere did'ja?"

"No. But why is it so important to hide this thing?" Lloyd asked.

"That was your mother's keepsake. She died protecting you and that Exsphere." Dirk said.

'Okay, this has to be Kratos's son, and that Exsphere is the missing Angelus Project' Mithos thought. 'Just great.'

"What? Why didn't you ever tell me?" Lloyd asked angrily.

"If I told you, you would have run out trying to take revenge on the Desians. The oracle appeared today, so just leave the rest to Colette."

"So will you make me the Key Crest?"

"Lloyd! Have you been listenin' at all?"

"Yes. But you can't expect me to do nothing now that I know." Lloyd said. This caused Dirk to go and promptly smack him. "Augh. You don't have to hit me!" He then bolted out the door, with Mithos in tow. And they ran right into Yuan, knocking him down.

"Ouch. How come people fall on me all the time?" Yuan asked.

"Sorry." Lloyd and Mithos said at the same time. Then Lloyd continued speaking. "So I take it you guys heard all that?" he asked.

"I'm sorry Lloyd. Because of me-"

"It's not your fault. I went along with it, so it's my fault, too." Lloyd said.

"Hey, Lloyd?" Colette asked. "Wanna go up on the terrace?"

"Sure, just a minute." Lloyd said.

With this, the group split up, Mithos and Genis talking about half-elves, so Lloyd figured he'd leave those two alone. Raine stood on the bridge and Colette sat on the bench. He wanted to go talk to his mom again, but was suprised to see Kratos and Yuan standing by his mother's grave. "What are you guys doing?" he asked.

Kratos said nothing for a moment, so Yuan spoke up for him. "We are paying our respects to the dead." he said.

"Oh." Lloyd paused a moment. "Thank you."

Then, Kratos asked a suprising question "Is your father still alive?"

Lloyd was shocked. "Um, I'm not sure. I would like to think he is, and I would like to meet him if he is, but I'm not going to get my hopes up." Lloyd said, looking downcast.

"I see. Forgive me for asking such an intruding question." Kratos said before going silent again. Then Lloyd walked away.

"Well gee, that wasn't obvious." Yuan said.

"Shut up Yuan." Kratos said in a somber voice.

"Oh, come on, you finally find your long lost son and now you want him to come on the journey." Yuan reasoned.

"Heh. Am I that easy to read?" Kratos asked.

"Well, when you know someone for 4000 years, it's pretty easy to know what they're thinking." Yuan said.

"Or stalkerish." Kratos smirked.

"Shut up, Kratos." Yuan pouted.

* * *

"Bye Lloyd." Genis and Colette shouted as the group departed the house.

"See you guys tomorrow." Lloyd shouted.

"You must have convinced Colette to let you go on the journey with her." Mithos said.

"Yup. You and Genis as well." Lloyd smiled.

Mithos smirked. "Thanks. I'm going to go for a short walk."

"Ok." Lloyd said. "Don't go to far."

And with that, Mithos was off to the Iselia Human Ranch. He teleported there once he was a safe distance away from Lloyd's house. He also had to transform into his Yggdrasil form so the Desians would recognise him.

Once he was in, he marched straight into Forcystus's office room. "Who the hell is- oh Lord Yggdrasil." Frocystus quickly corrected himself. "What brings you here?"

"It is to my understanding that your ranch was attacked today." Yggdrasil said.

"Yes, but, how did you know?" Forcy questioned his leader.

"I was the one who did it. Now I need your help with something."

"Ok." the Grand Cardinal asked, obviously shocked that his leader would attack his ranch.

"We need you not to kill anyone in the village. We need you to go and get me exiled from Iselia, along with two boys named Lloyd, 'Irving', a human, and Genis Sage, a half-elf. Do not kill anyone."

"Will do my lord." Forcystus obeyed.

"Thanks." Yggdrasil said as he warped out. He then walked back to Lloyd's and ate a light supper (since he doesn't eat anyway) and went to sleep (since he could acttually do that) after thanking Dirk for his hospitality.

* * *

In the morning, Colette, Raine, Kratos, and Yuan were standing around at Phaidra's house.

"Well, we will be leaving now, Grandma." Colette said. This apparently shocked the two angels.

"Good luck, Colette." Phaidra and Frank said to her.

As they left, Kratos whispered to Yuan "What about Mithos and Lloyd?"

"I'm not sure, but we will have to figure something out. We can't just leave him there or he'll have our heads." Yuan replied.

"Well, we can't go get him without blowing our cover." Kratos said in a sad voice.

"You want Lloyd to come."

"I know."

"Well, we'll have to see if Mithos can catch up to us, that's all." Yuan reasoned. And with that, the Chosen, Raine, Yuan, and Kratos left the village among several 'Good Luck' and 'Farewell' wishes.

* * *

Mithos: "You love torturing me, don't you?"

Yup, I do. And nothing that bad has happened to you yet, so stop whining.

"Oh great, what does yet mean?"

You'll find out. Now please review, because it brings a smile to my face, just like torturing Mithos.

"Please review so he doesn't kill me."

Quit whining Mithos.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 The Desert City

Mithos: "It's about time you updated."

I know. I've had exams all week, plus bowlng matches, and baseball practices have kept me really busy. I'm suprised I even found the time to write this and update this fast. On the plus side, I got 5 reviews last chapter, which kept me really inspired to write this more. So please keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying.

* * *

"Lloyd, wake up." Mithos hollered to the sleeping idiot. "It's almost time to go to the village."

"Huh? Wha- I'm up." Lloyd said.

"Well, hurry and get your stuff together." Mithos rushed.

So with that, Lloyd went downstairs to eat his breakfast, that was cold by the time that he woke up. Then he washed up in the creek and got dressed. Mithos just sat in the house and waited for the word that they could leave. He saw Lloyd walking over to his mother's grave, probably to talk to Dirk.

Then, Genis came running up to the house. 'Genis? What's he doing here? Shouldn't he still be in the village waiting for us?' Mithos then rushed out of the house to see what was going on.

"Genis? Great timing. Dad made me Marble's Key Crest." Lloyd said to the midget mage.

Genis was lost for words for a second. "That's really great." he said in a grateful tone. Then, his voice changed to angry. "But what about seeing Colette off?"

"Oh, about that. I decided to join her." he said.

Once again, Genis was left speechless, this time at Lloyd's stupidity. "Are you stupid? Colette and the others left a long time ago."

"What!" Mithos asked.

"Lloyd, Mithos, get to deh village, now." Dirk said.

This caused the three children, along with Noishe, to run to the village as fast as they can. The trip didn't consist of much talking since the three were trying to save their breath, save Lloyd's complaining about Colette leaving. "Noon. She said noon. Why the hell would she lie? What did I do? She said I could go on the journey with her!" he growled.

"Save your breath. You'll run faster." Mithos said through shortened breaths.

So they did just that and reached the village within the next ten minutes. The group immediately rushed through the village to the Brunel household, Lloyd knocking down the door (for real this time.) "Where did Colette go?" Lloyd asked.

Phaidra looked sad for a moment. "Here, Colette wrote this for you before she left."

Lloyd took the paper from Phaidra's hand, and read it silently. Then, he spoke up. "This almost sounds like a will to me." Lloyd said after reading it.

'Well, no crap. That's because the journey will end in her death.' Mithos thought.

"I suppose you could call it that." Phaidra said.

"Wha-?" Lloyd started to ask, but was interrupted by a large BOOM! "What was that?" he asked in a panic.

"Lloyd, let's go figure out what that was." Genis said. Mithos, however, already knew what it was. The Desians were attacking. So they left the Brunel's house to go figure out what the noise was. The two ignorant children and Mithos soon found out what has happened.

"What are you bastards doing here?" Lloyd shouted.

"We're handing down the divine punishment you inferior maggots deserve." one Desian mocked as they set the house on fire.

"LIKE HELL!" he shouted toward the Desian as he ran toward the Desians and stabbed them both with lightning-quick speed and absolute power (it had to have absolute power to completely impale two Desians with wooden blades.)

"Holy shit!" Mithos was awestruck.

"Let's keep moving so they can't kill anyone." Lloyd huffed as he started moving.

"Y-Yeah." Mithos stammered. He knew that the Desians wouldn't kill anyone, but knew that Genis and Lloyd didn't know that.

They went to the schoolhouse and saw more attacking. Lloyd knocked them out with a couple swings of his blade. Genis also casted a fireball, and Mithos casted some basic lightning magic. They saved the few villagers, then headed to the town square, which was the likely spot of their leader. Lloyd and Genis both ran at a breakneck pace, Mithos following. They saw the aqua hair half-elf standing there with a few of his minions. "Lloyd Irving, come forth." said half-elf spoke with such a booming voice it made everyone jump.

"You've come to attack the village again? I've had enough of this!" Lloyd shouted.

"What are you talking about?" one Desian mage said.

"He speaks nonsense. Ignore him." Forcystus said. "Lloyd Irving, you, a human, have been charged with violating the non-aggresion treaty. Therefore, you are coming back to the Ranch with me, Forcystus, leader of the ranch where we cultivate you pathetic humans."

"Yeah right." Lloyd said.

"If you don't comply, then we cannot guarentee your safety or this village's." Forcystus said with a smirk on his face.

"You bastard Desians killed my mom. I'll kill every last one of you or die trying before I go to that damn Ranch."

"What are you talking about? We didn't kill your mother. Your-"

"What if we just exile him." the mayor begged on his hands and knees. "We don't want our village hurt, plus he's an outsider anyway. He won't be hurting anyone that way anyway." the mayor cried out in desperation.

'This is too easy.' Forcystus thought. He snuck a glance at Mithos, who gave an almost nonexistant nod. "Okay." the half-elf said. "But I want someone in exchange for the boy." He then cast his glare toward the mayor. "You'll do."

"Wh-What? No no no." he begged.

"Well, you said that you would just exile the offender. Besides, as 'leader' of Iselia, you should be willing to make this sacrifice to protect the people of this village." Forcystus said. "Take him away, and get the three offenders out of this village."

'That worked just as planned.' Mithos thought. 'And I got rid of that racist fatass of a mayor in the process. Forcystus needs a promotion.'

And with that, the group was promptly kicked out of the village.

* * *

"I feel bad for Mithos." Colette chirped as the group formed of her, Raine, Kratos, and Yuan approached the House of Salvation.

"Why's that Chosen?" Kratos asked.

"Well, I didn't want Genis or Lloyd along because of the journey's, end result." Colette was saddened by this. "But if you two are being paid to accompany me and Mithos works with you two, he should be allowed to come along and help."

"But if you also think deeper, Mithos is just another mouth to feed, and a loud mouth to feed at that, while Kratos and I can offer you ample protection." Yuan explained.

"Heh. Don't worry Colette. Yuan and I have been at this for years." 'Many, many years' Kratos said and thought. "Plus, Raine is a healer, so if one of us is injured, she can take care of it. So don't worry about safety."

"Yes Colette. You will be safe with us." Raine confirmed.

"Thank you guys." the fledgling Chosen said.

"You're welcome." Kratos said. "Now you should get some rest while you can. Yuan and I will split night watches."

"Thanks." And with that, the blonde ran up the stairs, tripping once going up.

"What did you mean by that?" Raine asked.

"Mean by what?" Kratos asked.

"Rest while you still can." Raine glared.

"Rest while we are here." Kratos said flatly. "You should sleep too if you plan on healing us through the journey. Yuan and I are used to little sleep. It comes with our job." Kratos said.

'More like no sleep.' Yuan thought.

"Fine." Raine said grudgingly, then walked up the stairs.

"Heh, she's smart." Kratos said.

"No kidding." Yuan said. "Almost as smart as-" he trailed off.

"Don't worry. We'll have her back once this journey is done." Kratos reassured him.

"I wish." Yuan said. Then he decided to change the conversation. "Do you think that Mithos is going to be pissed at us for leaving him back in Iselia with Lloyd?"

"Probably. But he'll just have a little temper tantrum and then he'll be fine." Kratos said.

"Well, I guess just wait and see what time brings." Yuan said leaning his head back, indicating, although neither of them can sleep, that Kratos had first watch.

* * *

"I'm going to kill him!" Lloyd shouted.

"Now, calm, down. No one died, did they?" Mithos said, still dragging Lloyd out of the village.

"Really, I think we're kinda lucky we didn't get even more crap handed to us by those filthy Desians." Genis said. "It's almost like we were too lucky. I'm kinda worried." Genis admitted.

"Eh, don't worry. Just stay away from them from now on and I'm sure we'll be fine." Mithos said.

"Good point. Let's just catch up with Colette." Lloyd said.

So the group decided to trek through the desert. The trip was uneventful, except Mithos decided to smite two bandits using Prism Sword. "Don't try and mess with us." Mithos said when he was done, flipping his hair like in a very girlish way and putting his right hand on his hip. "Let's go."

"How'd you do that?" Genis asked, stunned.

"Exsphere helps." he said casually, pointing to the exsphere on his chest.

"I probably have to get one of those, don't I?" Genis asked.

"It'd probably help." Lloyd said.

"You could always kill a Desian." Mithos said.

"Jeez. I thought we had enough trouble with them already." Lloyd said.

"They won't be trouble if we kill them all." Mithos said.

"That's true, but how the hell would we manage to kill all the Desians in the world?" Genis asked.

"I'm not sure. We'll figure something out." he smiled.

Lloyd then whispered to Genis "I think Mithos is crazy."

"I heard that." Mithos shouted walking ahead of the two.

* * *

Kratos led the group into Triet, looking for leads on the next seal. They decided to go to the fortune teller's house in the back of the city. As they walked in the tent, they hear a mysterious voice ring through the air. "What have you come here for today."

"We need to know the location of the Seal of Fire." Colette said.

"Ok." The fortune teller was quiet before she said, "Why are you asking me? Your two mercenary friends will know."

"Thank you." Colette then skipped out of the tent, followed by an angry Raine, a shocked Yuan, and a stoic Kratos. (When is Kratos not stoic?)

"Why did we come all the way here if you two knew where the hell the seal is at!" Raine shouted at the top of her lungs, drawing many stares to the half-elf's tirade.

"We had suspicions but no confirmations as to where the seal is at." Yuan lied.

"We believe that the seal is in the ruins of the old city of Triet." Kratos said.

"RUINS!" Raine yelled, attracting even more stares to the group. "LET'S GET TO THAT SEAL NOW!"

"Ok, but you have to settle down." Yuan laughed.

"Oh, yes. Of course." Raine said.

* * *

"Whew, we finally made it. I'm beat." Lloyd sighed.

"No kidding." Genis agreed.

"Quick, hide." Mithos said. "Desians!" The three hid in the animal stable behind Noishe, who couldn't stop whining.

"What the hell happened to your 'kill all the Desians so they're not a nuisance' tirade?" Genis asked.

"Just calm down. They can't hear us so we just need to be quiet and stay out of sight." Mithos assured. That is when they saw the infamous Desian wanted poster.

"Ok, let's go." one of the Desians said.

With this, the three children walked out of the stable and up to examine the wanted poster. "Do I really look that bad?" Lloyd asked.

"It would seem that way." Mithos sniggered.

"It looks good, Lloyd. They shouldn't be able to find you at all with this." Genis said.

"Ugh. I still can't believe that they think I look that bad." Lloyd said as he tore down the wanted poster.

"Wait. Do you really think you want to do that? I thought you wanted to avoid trouble with them?" Mithos said.

"Well, it will be avoiding trouble if no one reports us to the Desians because no one saw the poster." Lloyd said.

"Hmm. Good point." Mithos said.

"Shouldn't we ask if anyone has seen Colette?" Genis asked.

"That'd be a good idea." Lloyd said.

"Hmm. I think there's a fortune teller that resides in this city." Mithos said.

"Should we go there then?" Genis asked.

"Yeah." Lloyd said.

* * *

The Chosen and her protectors were camped a few hours out of the city of Triet. "We should reach the ruins by tomorrow afternoon." Kratos said.

"I can't WAIT to excavate the Triet Ruins!" Raine exclaimed.

"We're not here to excavate anything. We're here to guide the Chosen on her journey to restore mana to the world." Yuan mocked.

"I know that." Raine sneered.

"Hmph. Anyway, we should set up camp for the night." Kratos said.

"Yeah. I'm kinda tired of walking." Colette said.

"Then it's decided." Yuan agreed.

* * *

"Hi. I can tell you the future or help you seek a friend for just 100 Gald." the fortune teller's voice ran through the tent.

"We're looking for our friend, the Chosen One, Colette Brunel." Lloyd said.

"Oh. They're headed for the ancient ruins of the city of Triet." she said almost immediately.

"Are you sure?" Mithos asked at her, stunned by the fact that she knew where they were immediately.

"Of course. The Chosen's companions said so themselves." she said ignorantly. "Now pay up."

"100 gald is pretty expensive for that." Lloyd said before handing the money to the fortune teller. He then stormed out, followed by Genis and Mithos.

"Man she is such a cheat!" Mithos yelled as they ran through the winding streets of the desert outpost.

"No kidding!" Genis said.

The group stopped running so they didn't draw attention to themselves. It was too late, however, as they spotted three Desians, who also saw them. "You!" one shouted. "You're wanted criminal 0074, Lloyd Irving."

"You're right. He looks just like the wanted poster." one of the others said.

"Congrats, Lloyd. They say you're good looking." Mithos laughed.

"Do I really look that bad?" Lloyd asked.

"You're coming with us." the third Desian said.

"And if I don't." Lloyd asked, unsheathing his wooden blades.

The Desians took out their weapons, two whips and a crossbow, and readied themselves for a fight before they burst out laughing. "H-He's gonna fight with wooden swords?" one of the Desians asked in fits of laughter.

"Hey, Lloyd." Mithos said.

"Huh? What is it Mithos?" Lloyd asked.

Mithos proceeded to walk over to the conviently placed weapons stand and grabbed two twin blades, labeled 'Knight's Sabers', and threw them toward Lloyd, without paying for them. "Fight with those." he said simply.

"Okay." Lloyd responded as he charged into battle.

The fight went pretty easily. Lloyd charged one of the whip masters, parrying an incoming strike with his left sword. He then swung his right at the Desian's leg, cutting it open. The Desian cracked Lloyd with the whip, hitting him in the stomach. Lloyd staggered for a second before stabbing at the opening left by the attack. The blade went right through the Desian's stomach, causing him to bleed to death.

Mithos took the other whip master. He waited for the Desian to come to him, then started swinging at the whip. The Desian swung the whip at Mithos's legs, which he jumped over. He then stabbed his sword through the whip to pin it to the ground, leaving the Desian defenseless. Mithos casted a quick fire spell, causing the Desian to be burnt, before he retrieved his sword and stabbed him with it, right through his chest.

Genis occupied the bowman with a variety of spells. He shot Aqua Edge at him to distract him, and shot bows out of the air with Fireball. He then used Stone Blast to damage the Desian's armor badly. His earth elemental spell was also made stronger because of the environment they were fighting in.

Genis kept the bowman distracted long enough to allow Mithos and Lloyd to finish their opponets off, then charge the bowman. He threw up his weapon in a futile attempt at defense. Lloyd finished the struggling Desian off with a Sonic Thrust attack.

"Well, that was unexpected." Mithos panted.

"Not very much of a challenge, though" Lloyd said.

"You shouldn't get so overconfident with a little win like this." Genis warned.

"Oh relax, Genis. Once the Desians see what we can do, they'll be sure to back off." Lloyd said in a carefree tone and threw his arms into a relaxed position.

"You shouldn't let your guard down, either. They probably came with more than just those three." Mithos said.

"!" Lloyd yelped before he fell limply to the ground, knocked out from a huge electric zap procured by a group of 'Desians'.

"Get out of here. We have no need for insolent children." their leader said to the half-elven boys.

"What did you-" Genis was cut off.

"Genis. Let's just get out of here." Mithos said.

"But-"

"Just do it." Mithos assured. Once the 'Desians' had left, Mithos turned to Genis. "We need to find colette, now." Mithos said. "Then we can get Lloyd back." It wouldn't be wise to take on a whole squad of 'Desians' and Mithos couldn't even do it without blowing his cover.

"Right." Genis agreed. So the two half-elves jumped onto Noishe and rode off into the desert looking for Colette.

* * *

I feel bad for zapping Lloyd like that.

"Don't worry. He probably deserved it."

Ouch. That's harsh. Anyway, please review or else Mithos is going to zap Lloyd again.

"I think you forgot something."

Like what

"Thunder Explosion doesn't own Tales of Symphonia"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Angel

A/N: Man, this chapter took forever to write. Please read and review.

* * *

"Pick up the pace Noishe!" Mithos yelled from atop the protozoan. "We have to find Kratos and Yuan."

"And Raine and Colette, too." Genis added.

It has become dark since the two left Triet on the arshis. They had been travelling through the desert now for about five hours and the two were becoming tired. Well, Genis was. Mithos was just bored.

'Why don't we just go to the Renegade's base ourselves?' Mithos thought. 'It would be a lot faster. But Genis would be scared for his life with just the two of us. Even though I could probably take down the whole base by myself.'

"Is that smoke?" Genis's voice rang through Mithos's thoughts.

"Huh?" Mithos asked.

"Look in front of us. Isn't that smoke?" Genis asked him.

"Oh yeah, it is. I can see tiny flames as well. Let's hurry and see who it is." Mithos said, voice filled with excitement.

The protozoan took off in a full sprint toward the campsite ahead. He stopped abruptly in the camp to see the Chosen's group. Colette had stood up to see what was coming when the protozoan had gotten in sight. Kratos just cast a quick glance up from where he was sitting, tending to the fire. Yuan was laying back on the sand, completely ignorant of the two half-elves storming into the campsite on the protozoan, although he had obviously heard them because he jerked his head away from the noise. Raine was sitting on another log reading an old book that she had with her, completely ignorant of what was going on around her. In fact, she didn't even notice Mithos and Genis showed up until Genis started shouting "Hey guys. We need your help!"

"Oh no. Genis, what happened?" Colette asked, worried.

By this time, Raine had stood up and walked up to her brother and smacked him across the back of the head. "What are you two doing here?" Raine asked.

"I see you two made it." Yuan commented. This also earned him a smack from Raine.

"Don't interrupt me or encourage them." Raine commanded. Yuan shut up.

"A lot of stuff happened and we got kicked out of Iselia. And the Desians captured Lloyd." Genis said. This caused everyone to give him a panicked stare, all for different reasons.

"Are we going after him?" Kratos asked after a minute of silence.

"Of course. We can't let him stay with the Desians." Colette said.

"We still have to release the seal." Raine added.

"So what do we do?" Mithos asked.

"How about splitting into two groups." Yuan said.

"And how would we go about that? Colette needs all the protection she can get." Raine said.

"Well, I want to go get Lloyd." Genis said.

"Okay. Colette has to go release the seal for sure, and Raine is the healer, so those two are going to the seal." Mithos added. " I want to save Lloyd too."

"No. You should go with Colette." Kratos said. "We don't need both children put in danger."

"Oh, but you'll send my brother to be 'in danger'" Raine hissed.

"Either myself or Yuan will accompany him to the base." Kratos said.

"I would actually prefer to go." Yuan said.

"Why do you want to go?" Kratos asked.

"Well, the Chosen needs you more than Genis does. Besides, I have mad skills when it comes to stealth missions." Yuan said with pride leaking from his voice.

"Fine." Mithos said grudgingly. "But you two better make it back in one piece." Mithos said.

'Jeez, why didn't he just say 'bust the damn leader of those Renegades.' Yuan thought. "I will. Don't worry Mithos."

"Good." Mithos said, appearing relieved.

"Ok. Let's go Genis." Yuan said. "Kr- Chosen One. Do you mind if Genis and I ride Noishe?" he asked to Colette.

"Sure. As long as it helps get Lloyd back quicker." she said with a cheery smile.

"Then we should hurry." Genis said with a twinge of anxiety in his voice as he began to mount Noishe. "Good luck releasing the seal."

"Be careful, Genis." Raine put in, clearly pissed.

"We will. I assure you the two boys will be unharmed." Yuan said as he too got on Noishe. "Meet up with us back in Triet. I'll let the boys get some rest." Then the two half elves rode off to the base.

* * *

"Genis, do you know where the Desians took Lloyd?" Yuan asked the young mage.

"No. I figured Noishe would be able to trace Lloyd's scent. He has an incredible sense of smell, even for a dog." the mage told the blunet.

"A dog?" Yuan questioned. 'Does this half-elf know what a protozoan is?' he thought.

"Well, Lloyd calls him a dog. He doesn't look like any dog I've ever seen, though." Genis said thoughtfully. 'Well, that answers my question.' Yuan thought.

"Whine." Noishe whined.

"Yeah. I kind of figured you wern't a dog, Noishe." Yuan said.

"Whine whine, whine." Noishe continued to whine.

"Shh! Focus on finding Lloyd." Yuan scolded, causing Noishe to immediately shut up.

"Wait, you can understand Noishe?" Genis asked in a suprised tone.

"Somewhat." Yuan said.

"But how?"

"I just pick up a few things from living longer than you have, plus travelling around a lot."

"Is it because you're a half-elf?" Genis asked suddenly.

"I don't see what that would have to do with anything. Besides, if that were the case, you would be able to understand him, too." Yuan explained.

"So how old are you exactly?" Genis asked.

Normally, if a kid he barely knew kept pestering him with questions like this, Yuan would have smacked them across the face. However, the conversation was distracting Genis enough so that Yuan could gradually steer Noishe to the base without him noticing, so he kept it up. "I don't really keep track of my age. Age is something I prefer to measure by what you've done, not by how long you've lived." 'And if that were true, I'd be a pile of dust right now.' Yuan added in his head.

"Wow." Genis said almost silently. Of course Yuan heard if with his extra sensative hearing. His extra powerful sight also allowed him to see the Renegade base that was coming into view very slowly.

"Hmm. Looks like we're here." Yuan said to the mage.

"That's a Desian base? It looks nothing like the Iselia Ranch." Genis said in amazement.

Yuan said nothing. He sat silently on Noishe as they approached the base. Once the arshis came to a stop, Yuan quietly dismounted and walked up to the front door. Genis followed slowly behind him, but stopped when he saw guards.

"Uhh, aren't we supposed to avoid being seen?" Genis asked.

"Don't worry about it." Yuan said in an all-buisness tone.

They walked up to the guards, who quickly bowed in respect. "We were not expecting you, Lord Yuan. What brings you here?" one of the guards asked.

"I came to get something." Yuan said simply.

"Who's he?" the other guard asked pointing at Genis.

"New recruit." Yuan said as he walked through the doors to the base. Genis, however, was frozen on the spot, and Yuan must have sensed this becaused he issued out a command. "Come on Genis." he said.

Genis took a look at each of the guards, who seemed to bear no hostility toward him, and then proceeded into the base, running to catch up to the blunet. "What the hell was that about?" Genis asked.

"The guards were letting us in." Yuan's face was unfaltering.

"They called you lord. Does that mean you serve the Desians?" Genis asked, shock plastered all over his face.

Yuan let out a sigh. Then he went on to speak. "I am only going to explain myself because I need you to keep this a secret. You cannot tell anyone. Do you understand?" Genis gulped and then nodded his head. "Okay. One; I am not with the Desians. Two; I am the leader of the Renegades, which is the people in this base. Three; if you tell anyone this, I will kill you and your friends. Understand?" Yuan spoke in a cold voice that clearly meant he was serious.

"What are you planning to do then if your subordinates captured Lloyd?" Genis asked.

"I am going to go get him out of the prison and bring him back to Triet with us, just like we discussed at the campsite." Yuan said.

"Okay. You won't hurt Lloyd, will you?" Genis asked in a tone that was a cross of worry and anger.

"No." Yuan stated flatly. And with that, the duo proceeded to the prision area. They passed a few Renegades who gave Yuan salutes, which he returned with a quick nod.

"Let me out of here!" a voice could be heard shouting from down the hall.

"Shut up!" another voice said.

"Let me out and I'll shut up." the voice from earlier shouted back.

"Is that Lloyd?" Genis asked.

"I would be very suprised if it wasn't." Yuan stated. With this information, Genis broke into a run. Yuan just shook his head and said to himself "I swear that kid is going to get himself killed on this journey." He then hastened his pace just a bit so he could be there to prevent a fight from breaking out.

"Leave Lloyd alone." Genis yelled at the guard on duty.

"Who the hell are you?" the guard said.

"Hey, Genis." Lloyd said, obviously enthusiastic about seeing his friend despite still being locked inside a prision cell.

"You know this intruder? I'm locking you up you little midget. How the hell did you even make it past security?" the guard questioned.

"I let him through." Yuan said rounding the corner.

"L-Lor-" Yuan quickly smacked him upside the head with his blade, knocking him out. Yuan then unlocked the cell and let Lloyd out.

"Come on. We don't have all day." Yuan said to Lloyd.

"Whoa, thanks Yuan." Lloyd said. "So you didn't come alone?" he asked Genis.

"Heck no. You really think I could make it passed all these-" he paused "Desians?"

"I think you might. But we should get out of here." Lloyd said. And with that, the trio sprinted out of the base, with all the guards shooting them questioning glances.

* * *

"Are you awake Chosen?" Kratos asked the blond-haired girl laying in the tent.

"Yeah, I'm awake." she said groggily. She then began to sit up and eventually walked out of the tent.

"I made you some breakfast." Kratos said to Colette as she sat down on the sand. "I hope you like pancakes."

"Yes. They're my favorite. Thank you Mister Kratos." Colette beamed.

'I hope you enjoy them, since this is the last time you're going to eat for quite a long time' Kratos mused to himself.

"So the Seal of Fire is in the old Triet Ruins?" Raine asked.

"That's what Kratos thinks." Mithos said.

"Well, all of our leads point to there." the purple clad mercenary said. "We should reach there by noon if we leave soon."

"As soon as Colette gets done eating." Raine said.

"I'm almost done, Professor." the blond Chosen.

"Don't push yourself, Chosen." Kratos said. "Take your time. We will pack the stuff."

"Thank you Mister Kratos." Colette said.

A half hour later, the Chosen and her current companions left for the fire seal. It was a quiet walk through the scorching desert as the four made their way to the old ruins.

"ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!" the half-elf healer shouted at the top of her lungs. "Look at this stone. This is polycarbonate, a stone used for defense against magic during the ancient war, covering the entrance. Oh my, this is fabulous!" She then proceeded to lay down on top of said polycarbonate and rub herself against it in a very, 'perverted' manner.

Mithos and Colette were giggling at the Professor's antics, close to busting out laughing. Kratos averted his eyes from the ruin-obsessed half-elf and started walking toward the oracle stone. He studied it carefully before calling the Chosen. "Colette, come here." he said, to which the blond Chosen immediately obeyed. "I think this stone is set to identify the Chosen. If you place your hand here, the entrance should open."

Colette was reluctant at first, but decided to see what would happen. She placed her hand on the stone and-

BOOM! BANG! BANG! THUD!

"Oh no. I hurt the Professor." Colette said sadly.

By this time, Mithos was laughing hysterically. "She fell down the hole." he said in a fit of laughter.

"Heh. Maybe that will teach her that humping ruins could be a bad thing." Kratos said.

"What's humping, Mister Kratos?" Colette asked innocently.

After Colette said this, Kratos couldn't even help from cracking up. "Don't worry about that. We should head in to release the seal." he said, now completely stone-faced once again.

"Oh, right. I hope the Professor's okay." Colette said.

"Even if she was hurt, she could just heal herself." Mithos said.

"Well, let's just get this over with." Kratos said, and walked into the temple followed by the two blondes.

* * *

"You're such an asshole!" Raine yelled at the auburn-haired man.

"I am very sorry." Kratos said in his monotone voice.

"Yeah right. I bet you planned that!" Raine screamed.

"I assure you that was not planned." Kratos answered.

"Funny, however, is a different story." Mithos added. This comment was greeted with a loud smack to the head. "Oww!"

"Maybe you shouldn't make fun of other people's pain." Raine said.

"Can we just get to releasing the seal now?" Kratos asked slightly annoyed. This shut the two half-elves up, and the group headed deeper into the temple in silence. They eventually reached a warp pad.

"This would probably take us to the seal room." Raine said.

"Yes, most likely." Kratos agreed.

Colette and Mithos stepped onto the panel first, followed by Raine and Kratos.

"This is a strange feeling." Raine said.

"What is it, Professor?" Colette asked.

"I can feel mana welling up." she said.

"Be on your guard." Kratos warned.

Suddenly, a big, red, tiger-like creature with spikes running down its back jumped out of the seal, followed by two little ones. The two little ones just looked like the big one without the spikes.

Kratos charged the bigger one and kept it away from the rest of the group. Mithos began fighting one of the little ones with his sword, having an easier time than Colette was having with her chakrams. Raine stayed in the back and just healed whoever needed it, which was the clumsy Chosen most of the time.

Mithos used a quick spell that infused his blade with ice power, then unleashed a huge combo on the Ktuchling. "ICE TORNADO!" he yelled, stabbing his sword into the creature's back, then having a huge vortex of ice explode from the blade, causing the little monster to explode. He then went to Colette's aid and started beating up the other little cat. Colette let out a cry of "RAY SATELLITE!" and the second little cat exploded.

Kratos was having a little tougher time with his enemy. The big cat could just swing his tail all about and knock Kratos back. He would get right back up and charge the thing again, time after time. He was knocked to the ground one time and the Ktugach jumped into the air above him and was about to strike when a cry of "SPREAD!" could be heard across the chaimber. This gave Kratos the opportunity he was looking for. "LIGHT SPEAR CANNON!" he shouted as he stabbed his sword into the Ktugach's belly and gutted him. "You ready?" Mithos asked him. Kratos nodded. "CROSS THRUST!" The big monster exploded and a glowing light appeared from the ceiling.

"You have done well, Chosen One." Remiel said after he appeared in a flash of light. "Offer your prayers at the altar, and Cruxis shall grant you the power of the angels."

Colette stepped up to the altar. "Oh Goddess Martel, great protector and nurturer of the planet, grant me thy strength." All of a sudden, four glowing orbs began spinning above the blonde's head, and shot into her. Then, bright, purple angel wings shot out of her back and she began floating in the air.

"Very good." Remiel said. "The angel transformation will not be without pain. Yet it will only be for one night. Be strong and endure. THe next seal lies on an island across the sea, overflowing with water. Release the seal there and offer your prayers at that altar." He then dissapeared in a flash of light, spewing feathers everywhere.

"Across the sea. We're going out to sea?" Raine panicked, her face beginning to turn green.

"Cool, Colette. You have wings." Mithos cheered.

"Yup. And I can put them away, too." she said. She then began hiding them and pulling them out rapidly.

"Okay, you two. We have to get back to Triet and meet with the others." Kratos said.

"Oh. Right. Let's go get Lloyd." Colette cheered.

So the three walked out of the temple, Kratos leading the group at a faster pace than when they went in. They got to the exit and walked out into the hot sand. The day was almost gone. Colette walked down the steps of the ruins behind Kratos, then just suddenly collapsed.

"Oh my. She's running a fever. We have to get her to a doctor immediately." Raine said after giving her an inspection. She then began to pick the fledgling angel up.

"Wait. It's best not to move her." Kratos said quickly.

"What? Why?" Mithos questioned.

"The angel said something about a trial that will involve enduring pain. This must be part of the trial. We will just have to wait it out." Kratos said.

"Well, let's set up camp then." Mithos said.

A half hour later, two tents were stood up around a now burning fire. Raine sat by the fire on a log reading a book, Colette stood by her tent, a baby-blue one with a floral design, and watched the fire, Mithos was laying down inside the other tent that he and Kratos shared, which was just a plain tan one that Mithos claimed didn't 'express the personallity of the group enough', and Kratos sat on a blanket, which the Chosen insisted he have, and stroked the fire.

"I'm going to go for a walk." Colette announced to the other three.

"Do you want any of us to come?" Mithos asked from inside his tent.

"No, no. I'll be fine." she said.

"Be careful, Colette." Raine said.

Colete then walked away from the rest of the group. She had been walking for ten minutes and came across an oasis. She sat in the lush grass by the spring and just stared. She then began coughing. "Ugh. What's happening to me? Dinner didn't taste good at all tonight, and normally food taste's better to me when I am sick. In fact, I couldn't taste it at all. What's happening to me?"

* * *

And this concludes Chapter 5. Next chapter will involve some fun in Triet.

"You're not planning on torturing me, are you?" Mithos asked.

Of course.

"Oh crap. Thunder Explosion doesn't own Tales of Symphonia or Namco-Bandai."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Mischevious Kids

**A/N: I apologize. This should not have taken me over two and a half months to update. I've been busy but still I apologize. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter nevertheless.**

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Lloyd asked as he, Yuan, and Genis walked to Triet.

"We would get there faster if you would just be quiet." Yuan said with a hint of annoyance.

"Sorry." Lloyd said sarcastically. "I was just wondering."

The trio marched on through the desert, Yuan leading the way. Yuan wasn't feeling very well after breaking Lloyd out of the base. He now had to deal with two annoying brats, and they couldn't ride Noishe back either because the three of them won't all fit on him and he sure as hell wasn't going to break his cover and start flying. He also had to deal with the accusing stares that the brat was giving him every time he looked at him.

"Can we stop here for lunch? We've been walking since before the sun came up and it looks like it's almost noon now." said brat piped up.

Yuan put a lot of thought into what he could do. 'I could say yes and take a quick break, or just take a walk away from the two for a little space. But now I have to watch that brat and make sure that he doesn't squeal on him. We could just keep walking and stop to eat in Triet. Maybe I can sell the brat to one of the merchants in Triet. That'd be a load off of my back. Then again, Raine would be after me then, and she scares me.' "Fine, let's stop for a break." he eventually said, and waited for Genis to be done making cabbage rolls that he wasn't going to eat. He eventually sat down next to Lloyd and waited for food, deciding that he actually could eat.

Lloyd then decided to speak to him. "I never really got to thank you for saving me from that place." he said.

Yuan let a mental laugh go at the irony that he was the one who had actually ordered his capture. "Heh. Just another day's work. Just try not to get captured too much."

Lloyd only let out a grunt in acknowledgement, clearly embarrassed at Yuan's reaction. This was when Genis called out. "Food's ready!"

The three sat in the sand and ate their cabbage rolls, Lloyd complimenting Genis's cooking, then the two talking about what they would do to kill time in Triet. Once they were done eating, Yuan stood up and ordered the two kids to follow, saying that they were almost to Triet.

"We're finally here!" Lloyd yelled and took off sprinting for the desert city.

"Quit running kid. Some of us here are at least half-human." Yuan said. This comment earned him a dirty look from Genis. Yuan quickly mouthed an apology to him, but Lloyd was completely oblivious to this comment as he ran.

Yuan and Genis caught up to Lloyd as he waited at the city gate. He was breathing heavy and sweat just poured down his face. "What took you guys so long?"

"I am not running through this desert." Yuan said. "It is way too hot." Except he couldn't feel hot or cold anymore, but whatever, thought Yuan.

"Really, Lloyd. Use your head." Genis said.

"Alright, fine. When are the others going to get here?" Lloyd asked.

"They shouldn't be here until nightfall, so we have the whole day to kill." Yuan said. Lloyd got a mischevious glint in his eyes, but it went away quick as Yuan snapped. "Don't do anything that will get you into trouble. We've had enough trouble with you already."

"Fine, fine." Lloyd gave in.

"We should go reserve rooms at the inn." Yuan said.

"Yeah. That way we can at least drop some of this stuff off." Genis agreed.

So the three started walking to the inn, but were stopped by an angry merchant that was marching toward Lloyd. "Where the hell are my swords?" the guy demanded angrily.

Lloyd was stunned for a moment. He recovered with a pretty lame comeback, too. "Um, do I know you?"

"You were the Desian who stole the two swords from me!" he shouted.

"What?" Yuan asked, clearly shocked.

Genis was the only one who remembered what really happened, however. "Lloyd's not a Desian. He borrowed those swords to kill a couple Desians who were attacking this town and got captured by them!"

"Baloney!" the angry merchant shouted. "Give me back my swords or I'll call the militia on you three."

"We'll pay you for the swords." Yuan suggested.

"Oh, and let some filthy Desian keep my finely crafted swords. I don't think so." the merchant argued.

"I'm not some filthy Desian!" Lloyd was shouting now. "Don't you ever compare me to those filthy scum!" By this time he had drawn his swords and was ready to charge. Yuan saw what he was about to do and quickly grabbed the enraged teenager. When Lloyd realized he was caught, he shrugged Yuan off and walked back to the inn.

"We will give you the money for the swords." Yuan explained. "I assure you that my companion is not a Desian. We are on a very long journey and he will need those swords. So how much do you want for them?" Yuan asked.

The merchant was silent for a moment, but you could tell his heart was racing from the way he was breathing. "2500 gald." he said.

"That's insane!" Genis exclaimed. He was quickly cut off by Yuan who responded simply handed him the gald.

"That should cover for it." he said as he grabbed Genis and walked away.

When they were a little bit away from the area where the conflict took place, Genis spoke up. "Thank's for covering for him. He really did use those swords to fight off Desians."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that. He was probably just delusional and when Lloyd was taken by the Desians to the desert, he mistook him for a Desian." Yuan explained.

"Yeah. I hope that didn't hit Lloyd too hard, though." Genis said.

"Me too."

"Are you feeling better, Colette?" Raine asked.

"Yes. Thanks for worrying about me Professor." Colette said.

"Go get something to eat." Raine told her.

"Oh, um, I already ate. Heheh." Colette lied.

"Okay." Raine said, but was suspicious about her response. She gave her a sideways glance as Kratos approached her.

"Are you ready to leave, Chosen?" Kratos asked.

"Yes. Is everything packed?" Colette asked.

"Everything except for my tent." Kratos said. "Mithos is still sleeping. I will wake him."

"Oh, don't worry. Let him sleep." Colette said.

"No, we need to get moving anyway." Kratos said. He then proceeded to walk into the tent calmly. Then, cries of "Owowowowowowowow!" could be heard as Kratos pulled Mithos out of the tent. He then took him over to the spring and threw him into it.

"Guuh!" cried Mithos as he rose up to the water's surface. "You could have just said let's go!" the half-elf whined. "I was awake."

"Well, that was a more convincing way of waking you up." Raine said.

"Now that you're awake, let's get the tent packed and get to Triet. The others are probably already waiting for us there." Kratos said impatiently.

"Alright." Mithos said.

So, after the group got the rest of their things packed, they headed on their way to Triet. "Mr. Kratos?" Colette asked.

"Yes, Chosen." Kratos said.

"How do you think Lloyd is doing?" Colette asked.

Kratos seemed to comtemplate this for a moment before answering. "I hope he is okay." he said, closing his eyes, a slight trace of emotion showing in his face. This gesture didn't go unnoticed by Mithos or Raine. However, Colette was oblivious.

"Me too." she said.

After this little interaction, the group pressed on for Triet to meet up with their three companions. Kratos silently lead the way, Mithos following close behind him, and Raine walking next to Colette behind the two.

"Can we go and do something now?" Lloyd asked the two half-elves once they got in their room.

"Like what?" Yuan asked sceptically. "What could there possibly be to do in this bum town in the middle of nowhere."

"We'll find something to do." Lloyd said cheerfully and a mischevious glint appeared in his eyes as he shot Genis a look.

"Oh hell no." Yuan said almost immediately. "I know that look anywhere and I am not bailing you guys out of trouble." he emphasized.

"You guys?" Genis questioned. "What did I do?"

"He would've drug you into whatever scheme he was planning. I know it." Yuan said.

"I don't have a scheme. We were just gonna play a few jokes on some of the people around here." Lloyd said dumbly.

"That's what a scheme is!" both half-elves yelled at him.

"Oh." Lloyd said in a manner that would have made any passerby think that he discovered the meaning of life. "Okay. Come on Genis." he said and began dragging the kid out the door with him.

Yuan just sat down and watched the two leave. "Heh, kids." he said quietly. He then tipped his head back and took an angel nap.

"Oww, stop dragging me." Genis whined.

"Alright. So we're going to the market." Lloyd said with a confident tone.

"For what?" Genis asked, astounded.

"Nothing. I just want to walk around." Lloyd said. Genis looked relieved, but stayed suspicious just in case Lloyd had something up his sleeve. So the two walked into the market area and the two looked at the various items that are for sale. They stopped at a weapons shop, different from the one Lloyd 'stole' the swords from, to look around.

"Excuse me." a girl's voice called from behind the two boys. The two turned to look at the voice's owner. She was about Lloyd's height, a little bit shorter, had raven colored hair tied up in a messy bun, had a slender build, and was dressed in a very flashy blue kimono held on her by a pink ribbon, along with tight black leggings. It was also hard not to note her rather large chest area. "Do you guys know where I could buy some supplies?" she asked very shyly.

"Umm, uhh." Lloyd oggled like an idiot before Genis picked up for him.

"They sell food over by the oasis, and gels and other healing items are just in the next stall here." he said, and pointed to the stall that sold gels.

"Great." she said happily. "Thanks." she said and started to walk away.

"We can show you where they are if you want." Lloyd practically blurted out.

She looked stunned for a second before she smiled and said, "That'd be great. Thanks." Lloyd and Genis walked up to her and she fell in stride next to the two boys. "So what are your names?" she asked.

"Lloyd is my name." he said casually, stroking the back of his head as he introduced himself. "And the midget is Genis." he added.

"Hey!" Genis whined, and the girl giggled.

"So what's your name?" Lloyd asked.

"Sheena." the girl responded.

The three kids went to the grocer and Sheena bought all of her food that she needed. Then the three wanted something to do, so they played hide and seek in the alleys.

"Genis is it first." Lloyd yelled out.

"What? Why me?" Genis asked.

"Because you're slow. Sheena, let's hide." Lloyd said.

"Okay. Let's go." she said, then jumped onto a rooftop and sprinted off.

"Um, okay. She's fast." Genis said.

"Yeah. She is." Lloyd said in a state of quiet shock. He quickly perked up, however. "Good luck." he said merrily before running off himself.

"Oh crap." Genis said to himself, then closed his eyes and started to count. When he opened them, Lloyd was gone.

The Chosen's entourage was moving at a good pace, stopping for a brief lunch cooked up by a certain maniac professor. The three angels even thought it was disgusting even though they can't taste anything. Kratos even had to go as far as using first aid on himself. This didn't hinder their journey, however.

"At this pace, we should reach the city by nightfall." Kratos stated, with almost a hint of urgency in his voice.

"Okay. I can't wait to see Lloyd and Genis again." Colette said, her voice full of cheer.

"Then we should hurry up." Mithos said impatiently. "I can't wait to see them either."

"We can't afford to be standing around talking if you two are in such a hurry." Raine said matter-of-factly.

"Then let's go." Colette said, leading the way.

"Where did those two kids go?" Yuan asked himself as he awoke from his so-called 'nap'. He pushed himself out of his chair and made his way to one of the windows to see if he could spot the two children. Triet wasn't a small town, and there were a lot of stalls that sold goods to people. Nevertheless, those two stand out enough to be seen if they are in the area. 'Oh, they better not be playing around in the alleys' Yuan thought to himself. There were many robbers that hid in the alleys and preyed on lost travellers after all. 'At least I can sense their mana. That will make this a little bit easier'. And with that thought, Yuan left the hotel and headed for the marketplace of Triet.

After about a half hour of walking, Yuan finally caught a sense of Genis's mana. He was in one of the alleys, the stupid brat. Yuan let a mental sigh out, then headed for the place that he figured Genis was. A couple of weavings through the alleys, and he saw the blue-clad half-elf standing in the middle of the place with his back turned to him. "Hey Gen-" Yuan began.

"AAAH!" Genis let loose a terrified prepubescent screech that made Yuan fall to one knee it hurt him so bad. "You scared me Yuan." Genis said with a guilty expression on his face.

"Sorry." Yuan said dryly. "Now where's your friend?" he asked impatiently.

"Hiding." Genis said.

"What?" Yuan asked in disbelief, his jaw dropping.

"Hiding." Genis repeated. "Me, Lloyd, and this girl named Sheena are playing hide-and-seek."

"Sheena?" Yuan asked in shock.

"Yeah, Sheena. Why?"  
"No reason." Yuan said, the worried expression disappearing off of his face quickly. "So we need to find Lloyd." he said.

"Yeah. And Sheena." Genis said. Man, this kid can push Yuan's buttons.

"I'm sure Sheena left to do something else." Yuan stated with confidence. "She sounds like a busy person."

"You only know her name." Genis did an anime sweatdrow.

"Well, with how long you're taking to find her, she probably left already." Yuan stated. "Now let's find Red."

So the two half-elves took off into the rest of the alleys to find the red-clad idiot. It didn't take them long, as Lloyd jumped out from behind a building and tried to scared them. "BOO!"

"AAAH!" Genis shrieked.

"Bah!" Yuan cried as he let loose a ball of electricity that fried Lloyd on the spot.

"Ouch!" Lloyd said as he fell to the ground.

"Well, that's what you get for startling people." Yuan said in his know-it-all voice. "Now get up and let's go back to the inn."

"You...bastard." Lloyd stammared weakly as he felt himself picked up by Yuan and was carried back to the inn. When they finally got back, everyone finally calmed down.

"Now let us just sit down and wait for the Chosen and her comrades to show up." Yuan ordered.

"Eh, it's not like I'm in any shape to go anywhere anyway." Lloyd stated.

And with that exchange done, they all just relaxed. Genis and Yuan grabbed books, while Lloyd just played with the white streamers that hung off of his outfit.

"There's Triet. Off in the distance." Kratos said.

"Oh boy. I can't wait to get there and see Lloyd." Colette said. "Oh, I hope he's okay."

"Don't worry." Mithos said reassuringly. "I'm sure he'll be fine. I wouldn't've picked Yuan to go after him of all people, but-"

"ARE YOU SAYING HE MIGHT NOT BE OKAY?" Colette shrieked.

"He's fine." Kratos stated.

"Why are you so sure?" Raine asked.

Kratos paused for a moment. 'If he survived falling off that cliff then I'm sure he'll make it through this' he thought to himself. "Gut feeling." he replied to Raine's question.

They continued walking in silence as they approached Triet. "Lloyd." Colette said to herself. "Please be okay."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Well after almost two years I finally updated this story. How ya feelin Mithos?**

**Mithos:...**

**Me: Mithos?**

**Yuan: He died from starvation. You had him locked in that cage almost two years. What did you expect.**

**Me: Oops. Well, it's been a while. I obviously don't own Tales of Symphonia. Enjoy.**

Ch. 7 Sick of This Desert!

"I'm so bored! When are Colette and the others gonna get back?" Lloyd shouted across the room.

"They should be back by tomorrow morning at the latest." Yuan stated dryly. "Now SHUT UP!"

"Well why couldn't we keep playing with Sheena then?" Lloyd asked.

"Because Triet is a dangerous city. You have no idea who that woman really is so you shouldn't be associating yourself with her." Yuan explained.

"She didn't seem that dangerous." Genis put in.

"Yeah. Besides, I doubt anyone that cute could be too dangerous." Lloyd said.

"What'd you say, Lloyd?" Genis asked in a rather mocking tone.

"Uh, n-nothing." he stammered.

"Lloyd has a cru-ush. Lloyd has a cru-ush." Genis sang.

"Enough!" Yuan shouted. "I don't have the patience to put up with the games you two play! It's getting quite late, so if you two aren't gonna go to sleep then at least be quiet!"

And with that outburst, the games were over for a few minutes. After sitting in silence for awhile, Lloyd anounced to the two half-elves "I'm going for a walk."

"Don't be out too late and watch your back." Yuan reminded. Lloyd just regarded him with a nod and walked out the front door of the inn. He didn't exactly know where he was going to go at this time of night, so he decided to take a stroll over to Noishe's pen. He got a few steps away from the pen before a girl's voice caught his attention.

"There you are!" Sheena yelled to him. She then began to approach him. "Where did you and your friend go earlier?"

"Umm, another person that we're travelling with came looking for us and made us go back to the inn. Sorry, he's kind of an old grouch." Lloyd explained.

"Oh, alright." Sheena breathed a sigh of relief. "I was just worried that you two got mugged and captured by bandits or something." she giggled.

"Now you just sound like our old grouch companion." Lloyd laughed.

"Yeah. So what are you doing out this late by yourself then?" Sheena asked.

"Just came to get some fresh air. I'd be more worried about you being out here by yourself." he said.

"Oh really." Sheena teased. "And why would that be?"

"Well, like you said earlier. The bandits and stuff." Lloyd said.

"And why would I worry about some silly bandits." She asked, now completely relaxing and leaning against the pen.

"W-well." Lloyd began to stammer. "It just seems l-like a p-pretty girl like you would b-be targeted by bandits and thieves more."

This brought an amused smirk to Sheena's face. "So since I'm pretty, you think I can't defend myself?"

"I never said that!" he quickly tried to cover.

"Well, if I challenged you to a match, who do you think would win?" she asked.

"I-I don't know" Lloyd stammered out.

"Really?" Sheena asked rhetorically. "Well, Lloyd. Lloyd, what is your last name?"

This caught him off guard. "It's Irving. But why is that important?"

"Because, Lloyd Irving, I think I would kick your ass if we had a match against each other!" she said, now filled with competitive energy.

"Or, we could kick both of your asses and take you both back to the ranch with us!" a voice shouted across the square to the two standing by the pen.

Both their heads snapped in the direction of the voice to see a group of five Desians approaching them. A swordsman led the pack toward them in the center, with a whip master on either side of him and two bowmen following them up in the rear of the formation. "You're wanted criminal number 0074, Lloyd Irving. You've been convicted of violating the non-aggresion treaty between Iselia and the human ranch. Also, you are now being held responsible for the dissapearence of the previous capture team that was sent after you. It's time you pay for your crimes against the Desians!" the whip master to the left recited.

"ME pay for MY crimes?" Lloyd shouted. "How about YOU all DIE for destroying the entire village of Iselia!"

"You're a funny boy." the swordsman said. "But we're through playing your games. You're coming to the ranch with us. But don't worry, we'll bring your pretty little girlfriend to keep you company." the swordsman mocked.

"Like hell!" Sheena said. She then drew her cards out of her kimono as Lloyd drew his swords out of his sheath.

"You fight with pieces of paper?" Lloyd questioned. "How the hell does that work?"

"Shut up and fight!" she commanded.

And with that the two charged at the Desians. With both of them being careful to not get hit by an arrow from the supporting bowmen, they charged at the two whip masters while trying to keep the swordsman at bay. Sheena planted the loudmouth whip master with her seals at first, then began to dodge his answering counterattacks. The swordsman decided to go after Sheena as well, so she made sure to dodge, as well as keep the charging Desians in between her and the bowmen.

Lloyd in the meantime charged at the whip master that kept quiet. The master lashed a few shots at Lloyd, but only managed to nick him once. Lloyd quickly attacked with a sword rain, then jumped off to the side. The whip master charged at him again, and Lloyd also noticed one of the bowmen coming nearer to him. Lloyd parried the whip master's blow and kicked him in the direction of the charging bowman, who had just shot an arrow at Lloyd that was consumed by the kicked Desian. Lloyd then used a Demon Fang to stun the bowman, who then collapsed.

Sheena let out a few grunts, and then a cry as the swordsman slashed her arm. After taking out the immediate threat of the one whip master, Lloyd ran over and ran his blade through the Desian's back, dropping him instantly. This allowed a handicapped Sheena to focus on the whip master, which she quickly disposed of with a Pyre Seal. The two quickly sprinted at the remaining bowman, dodging any arrows that he shot at the two. Lloyd hit a couple shots before Sheena got his attention.

"Lloyd! Thrust through this!" she shouted.

"Alright. Let's do it!" he said enthusiastically.

"Power Seal" she threw the seal up.

"Sonic Thrust"

"POWER THRUST!" they both shouted. Lloyd's sword ran through the Desian and he fell limply to the ground.

Both of them were breathing heavily before Lloyd piped up "That was awesome!"

"Yeah it was!" she exclaimed.

"What are you doing?" a voice shouted from the entrance of the city. Lloyd turned toward the voice to see Raine charging at them with Colette, Mithos, and Kratos in tow.

"Sorry, Professor. They were after us. We had no choice!" Lloyd explained.

"We? Us? Where are Genis and Yuan? And just who is this broad?" she gestured at Sheena.

"I am not a broad!" Sheena shouted in her own defense.

"Oh please. Look at how you're dressed!" Raine spoke down to her.

"Excuse me! You don't even know me, yet you're gonna stand there and judge me. Just who the hell do you think you are, lady?" Sheena yelled furiously. By this time, the commotion of the fight and now the loudness of the two women arguing brought Yuan and Genis outside.

"Stop arguing you two. This is my friend, Profes-" Lloyd started to explain, but was cut off by Raine yelling again.

"Yuan! Just where the hell were you? Don't you think you should have been keeping a better eye on Lloyd after he's already been kidnapped once on this journey?" Raine now directed her attention to the blunet half-elf.

"I wasn't hired to babysit some kid!" Yuan retaliated. "I was hired to-"

"ENOUGH!" Kratos finally chimed in, causing everyone to shut up. "Everyone stop yelling." his tone was now much more mellow. "All we're doing right now is causing unnecessary strife and a commotion in the town. It's accomplishing nothing."

"I agree with Kratos." Colette said. "Everyone should stop fighting."

"That doesn't change the fact that these two still have some major explaining to do." she gestured toward Lloyd and Yuan. "And we still don't know who" a pause "she is." Raine now thumbs at Sheena.

"Her name is Sheena." Lloyd said. "Genis and I met her when we were in town earlier. We showed her where she could get some supplies and then the three of us played hide and seek. We got separated but now we just ran into each other again, so we started talking. Then the Desians showed up and tried to kidnap me." Lloyd explained.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you, umm, what was your name?" Sheena stated.

"It's fine. I'm sorry I judged you like that. My name is Raine. This is Colette, Mithos, and Kratos. Over there is Yuan and my little brother Genis." Raine introduced the ninja to everyone.

"Well, it was nice meeting you all." Sheena said to the group. "I booked a room at the other inn uptown, so I'm gonna head over there and turn in. Maybe I'll see you again someday." the last part was directed mostly at Lloyd, which garnered a furious look from Colette.

"Uh, yeah. Hopefully." Lloyd answered in a nervous voice. "Goodnight." And with that, Sheena walked away to her room at the inn.

"Can we go to sleep now? It's been a way to hectic past couple of days." Mithos broke the silence.

"Yes. Let's get to the inn." Kratos said.

* * *

The next morning, Yuan cooked a big breakfast for the group consisting of omelets of all sorts, mini steaks, and an assortment of fruit. Needless to say, the aroma woke the entire group up and everyone, with the exception of Colette, devoured the delicious food.

"This is really good, Yuan." Genis said.

"Yeah, this is delicious." Lloyd restated.

"Thank you." Yuan said somewhat offhandedly.

"What's your secret?" Genis asked.

"I just have a lot of experience." Yuan said.

"Colette, try this!" Genis shoved a piece of omelet at Colette.

"I'm already full. But thank you, Genis." Colette said.

"Are you sure, Colette. It is very delectable." Raine said.

"Yeah it is!" Genis exclaimed. "Way better than Raine's cooking."

"Ugh. That was bad." Mithos joined the conversation. Genis's comment earned him a smack upside the head. This caused Mithos to laugh, until Raine walked over and smacked him upside the head as well. "Ouch."

"You two just don't appreciate the art of experimentation when it comes to the culinary arts!" Raine said indignantly.

"Not when the experiment comes alive." Lloyd said. At this, Raine picked up an empty bottle that had orange juice in it, and threw it across the table, knocking Lloyd out of his seat and onto the floor. Everyone was stunned by this except for Colette, who happened to be laughing.

"I would appreciate it if everyone would quit bashing my cooking now, thank you very much." Raine said. "Let's finish eating and get packed up. Get up Lloyd." she kicked Lloyd as she started for the rooms.

"Raine, before I forget." Kratos stood up from the table and walked toward the half-elf. "I took this exsphere off of one of the Desians that Lloyd killed yesterday. You should equip it to enhance your healing abilities." He then put the exsphere in her hand and proceeded to clean up his mess.

"Thank you, Kratos." Raine said to him before turning and walking up the stairs.

"I guess we should all get our stuff together too." Mithos said. "Don't wanna keep everyone else waiting."

"Alright. I'll help you pack." Genis said. With that the two headed up to the rooms.

"Colette, do you want help packing your stuff?" Lloyd asked the Chosen.

"No, I can handle it myself." she said quickly before getting up from her chair and heading up the stairs as well.

"Okay then. I guess I'll just go take care of my stuff then." Lloyd said to himself. He then departed to his room as well.

When everyone else was out of earshot, Yuan, who begins to clean off dishes, said jokingly to Kratos, "Looks like he's a chip off the old block, huh. Already having girl troubles it seems. They're all flocking to him like moths to a flame." Kratos said nothing. "Now see, I never had that problem. I was always a one woman man, so I doubt I could give him any advice on how to handle this. You on the other hand.." Kratos still says nothing as he pours himself another cup of coffee and begins to drink it. "Maybe you could give him some advice. I mean, you were always a womanizer in your day. And this is Lloyd having girl trouble." Yuan emphasized. "Don't you think you should be the one to help him through this difficult time called adolescence. You know, like a, ahh, whats the word? Father, should."

"Fuck off, Yuan." Kratos says as he gets up and marches off to his room to pack his things.

When he was in his room, Yuan says to himself "No matter how old we get and no matter how 'stoic and collected' you try to appear to everyone else, I will never fail to get a rise out of you." He then packed up the dishes and gets all the food supplies ready to travel.

* * *

"The Ossa Trail should take us about half a day to reach." Kratos explains when they're all outside and ready to depart. "Is everyone ready?"

"Yeah. Let's get this over with. I'm sick of being in this desert already!" Mithos says.

"Then quit whining and let's go." Yuan says to him.

And with that, the group departed the city of Triet and headed to the Ossa Trail. After about three ours of walking, Lloyd was the first one to make a complaint. "How much longer do we have to go?"

"We're about halfway there." Kratos states to him.

"Ugh, I'm dying here." the red-clad swordsman said.

"We can go a little longer. I'm still fine." Colette said to Kratos. Lloyd stared at her back confused.

"Really, Colette? We're tired too." Mithos said, referring to him and Genis.

"Yes, I could use a break, too." Raine said.

"Even I agree." Yuan said to the group.

"Okay, let's take a break then." Colette said cheerily.

"If that is what you desire, Chosen." Kratos gave in.

With that, the group decided that they would rest for about an hour before heading out again. However, it took much less than an hour (more like five minutes) for Lloyd to utter those two magic words. "I'M BORED!"

This complaint was met by a chorus of "Oh Goddess" from everybody except Colette and Yuan.

"Well, if you really are bored, I have a game I suppose I could try to teach you." Yuan offered.

"Really? What kind of game?" Lloyd asked.

"I wanna play" Genis said.

"Me too." Colette chirped.

"It's a card game I learned a few years ago called euchre." Yuan explained as he pulled a deck of cards out of his bag. "Here's how you play. You take the 9's, 10's, jacks, queens, kings, and aces of every suit and you use that as your playing deck. The person across from you is your partner. Now, I will deal." Yuan then proceeded to deal 3 cards to Genis, 2 to Lloyd, 3 to Colette, then 2 to himself. He then repeated in opposite order. "After I deal, you all should have 5 cards in your hand, and there should be four cards here in what we call the 'kiddie'. After we're done dealing, the dealer turns up the top card." Yuan then turns up the top card, which was a king of hearts.

"Now what happens?" Lloyd askes.

"Going counter-clockwise from the dealer, you can either order me to pick that card up and make that the trump suit, or you can pass to the next person." Yuan explains. "If it comes back to me with no one ordering me up, I can either pick it up myself or turn the card down. If I turn the card down, then we will proceed in a counter-clockwise order from the dealer to call the trump suit. However, the suit of the card that is turned down cannot be called trump anymore." Yuan says.

"This all sounds really complicated." Colette says.

"No kidding." Lloyd says.

"But I'm sure it'll be easy to figure out." the Chosen chirps.

"There's a little more I haven't explained yet. But it is really easy once you get the hang of it." Yuan assures. "Now, the suit that is called trump becomes the suit that wins a hand, so if you have a lot of hearts, you want to order this king to me." He then ordered everyone to lay their cards down to get a good look at how a hand is really played. "Genis, you have both red jacks and a 9 of hearts. You should order me to pick this card up."

"But why? You have the ace and then you would have the king of hearts as well. And you have another ace too." Genis says.

"But in euchre, the jack of the trump suit is known as the right bower. That is the most powerful card in the hand. Then the jack of the same color but other suit becomes the left bower, the second most powerful card in the hand." Yuan tells him.

"Ahh, I see." Genis realizes.

"I'll explain it a little more later. There's still a little more that goes into scoring, plus the fact that you must follow suit, but I'm sure you guys grasp the basic jist of the game. We should get back on the road." Yuan says as he collects the cards and puts them back in his bag.

"Alright. Thanks for teaching us Yuan." Colette says. "Let's go guys." she says to the rest of the group who wasn't participating in the game.

* * *

After another four hours of walking in the desert, the sun was beginning to set, but there was still plenty of light to see, and the air became cooler as the group approached an area that was growing grass.

"Finally, we're almost out of the desert!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"I agree. There's sand EVERYWHERE on me!" Genis exclaimed.

"That is very inappropriate, Genis." Raine said as she smacked her brother upside the head.

"What is she talking about?" Colette askes Yuan.

"You don't need to know." Yuan said.

"OWWW. Sorry but it's true." the boy said.

"He is right." Mithos defends.

"You still don't need to- KRATOS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" the healer askes the purple clad mercenary, as he has his boots, socks, and is beginning to take his pants off.

"I'm emptying the sand out of my clothes." Kratos says calmly.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE OF DECENCY?" Raine shouts.

"Fine. I'll go in the trees over here." he says.

"Ahahahahahaha." Yuan can't control his laughter at Kratos getting bossed around. "MEOW-KRACHHEH" Yuan whips at Kratos. Kratos just shakes his head and walks over to the trees where no one can see him.

Once he gets back, Raine asks, "Well no that that's taken care of, are we ready?" Everyone nods. "Alright, lets go."

The group starts up the trail but is stopped by a woman's voice.

"STOP!"

'That sounds like-' Lloyd thinks to himself.

"Is the Chosen of Mana among you?" the voice asks.

"Oh, that's me!" Colette chirps.

"Colette.." Mithos sighs to himself.

"Prepare to die!" Sheena shouts as she jumps down and charges at Colette.

"Sheena!" Lloyd exclaims.

"Lloyd! What are you doing here?" she asks, stopping in her tracks, very frightened by the twist of events.

"I should be asking you the same thing!" Lloyd retaliates.

Then Colette tripped. Opening the mine passage. Dropping the assasin down the hole. "AAAH!"

"Oh no, I did it again." Colette says.

"Sheena!" Lloyd screams down the hole.

"Do you think she's okay?" Mithos asks.

"Even considering her weight to be 45 kilograms, the hole to be 10 meters deep, and figuring in a gravity constant at 9.8 m/s, the impact shouldn't have been fatal." Genis explains.

"Gravity constant?" Colette asks.

"She's okay, right?" Lloyd asks, panic evident in his voice.

"Yes Lloyd, she should be fine." Genis says.

"Why are you so worried about Colette's assasin, Lloyd? Do you have a little crush?" Yuan sings.

"N-no." Lloyd stammers. This earns laughs from Genis and Mithos, and Colette flushes a deep red.

"We should get moving." Kratos diverts the subject.

"Yes, I agree. We don't want her coming back after us again." Raine says.

"No, we don't want that. Right, Lloyd?" Mithos teases.

"Shut up." Lloyd says.

"Awe, getting defensive, are ya?" Mithos sings as the group starts down the trail. "Lloyd and Sheena, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-"

"At least I don't look like a transvestite" Lloyd counters. Everyone's jaw drops as they just turn and look at him.

"What's a transvestite?" Colette asks the professor.

Raine, however, ignores Colette's question. "Lloyd, how do you know what a transvestite is?"

"It was in one of our history lessons." Lloyd says. "How the ancient Balacruf king Cleo the Second dressed as a woman to infiltrate the castle and assasinate the king of the Hima region. They called him a transvestite in the book, so I figured this could be applied to Mithos since he's a boy who looks like a girl."

"I don't know whether or not to punish you for saying that or cry for joy that you actually payed attention in class one day." Raine ponders.

"Do I really look like a girl that much?" Mithos asks himself.

"I don't know whether to laugh or.. Well, there's really nothing else to do but laugh." And with that, Yuan busted into a fit of laughter.

"You're mean, Lloyd." Colette pouted.

"Can we get moving again?" Kratos asks.

As the group begins to move again, this time down the trail to the other side, Yuan catches up to Kratos. "Think you could've done better?" the blunet whispers in his ear.

"Fuck off, Yuan." Kratos replies.

And with that exchange, the group approached a huge wooden wall that appeared to be blocking a mine opening. Then, all anyone could hear was Sheena screech. "AAAAAAHHHHHH" as she toppled the wall and comes sprinting out.

At the sight of her, everyone except for Lloyd drew their weapons.

"Run away!" she panics.

"Why?" Raine asks. "Why would someone who's trying to kill us try to help us like you are?"

"Look." says Mithos as he points his sword at the opening, or more importantly, the thing coming out.

The Sword Dancer.

* * *

**Well, I don't really have much to say about the extremely long wait. So I'll leave you readers with this. While I was typing this chapter, I was listening to music on my mp3 player, and 'I Just Had Sex' by The Lonely Island came on, and I immediately pictured Yggdrasil, Kratos, and Yuan forming a rock band and singing the song at a concert.**

**Please review!**


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